


Heir of the Dragons

by Jdlilith



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2019-10-11 09:10:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17444027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jdlilith/pseuds/Jdlilith
Summary: When Gajeel finds out that another Dragon-Slayer may exist in in the world he was excited. He was not expecting the memories it would bring up or the changes in him. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of two love triangles and isn't sure how to handle things.





	1. 7 years later

Life in Fairy Tail had never been easy, but it seemed like things were down right difficult these days. It was hard to get back into the swing of things after being gone for seven years. When the Tenrou team returned they all had trouble adjusting to the new world they found themselves in. All their friends had grown up without them. Bisca and Alzak had gotten married and had a child. The guild had been a shell of its former self, with only a handful of members left. The people that were left had gotten a lot stronger while everyone was away. 

Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy all had each other to help them through that tough time. Cana had Gildarts, not that she had any trouble adjusting anyways, she had always been a go-with-the-flow type person. Laxus had his team with him. Juvia and Wendy had both just started their lives in Magnolia and all their close friends had been on the island with them. Gajeel wasn’t exactly one to make friends and he had seemed to adjust to the changes quickly. Levy felt like she was the only one still struggling with things months after returning.

Levy’s team hadn’t been with her on the island. Her teammates had grown up without her. Droy had grown fat but was still the same sweet man he had always been. He had never given up on finding Levy, but when they had, and she was still her eighteen-year-old self things had changed between them. He was twenty-five now and Levy could tell he saw her more like a little sister these days. Levy was alright with this, it made things easier in their relationship now that he and Jet weren’t competing for her affection.

Jet, well Jet was another story entirely. Things between Levy and Jet had become … awkward to say the least. She couldn’t even place all the blame for it on him. When she had first got back to Magnolia, her life had been in shambles. She couldn’t even think of where to start picking up the pieces. Jet had been there for her then. He had given up on her in the past, believed she and the others were dead. He had tried to make up for that by being there for her once she was back. Jet had grown up well, he was handsome, mature and kind. Maybe that was why Levy had done what she did. Maybe it was because she was desperately searching for some stability. Maybe it was because Gajeel had turned a cold shoulder to her as soon as they returned. She couldn’t say for sure what had influenced her to act the way she had, but she wished she could take it back now.

The single biggest regret of Levy’s life was the night she had ended up in Jet’s bed. She still wasn’t sure how it had happened. Well … she knew _how _it had happened. She remembered every horrid detail. She just didn’t understand _why_ she had done it. __

____

Levy was sitting under the rainbow Sakura tree in the park. It was late and the park was empty, which is just want she was hoping for. She needed time away from everyone. The girls back at Fairy Hills were planning Evergreen and Elfman’s wedding even though they weren’t even officially dating. There was a party going on at the guild hall to welcome Laxus back to the guild. Lucy was visiting her father’s grave. As for Gajeel … He was back to his normal aloof self and that hurt a lot more than Levy thought it would.

That was what lead to Levy hiding out in the middle of Magnolia Park, under the Sakura tree, crying. Her life savings, gone. Her guildhall, gone. Her best friends, grown up. Her crush, ignoring her. Her old life, gone. She didn’t know what to do anymore and she felt like she had no one she could turn too.

“Levy? Is that you?” Levy cursed herself as she heard the voice of one of the last people she wanted to see right then. She quickly wiped her tears away and looked up to see Jet running over to her.

“What are you doing out here all alone? It’s not really safe to do that anymore. I mean, not with Twilight Ogre in town and everything.” Jet told her, sitting down beside her.  
Levy had to bite her lip to hold back a sob. Even her hometown had changed. She had never felt unsafe in Magnolia, even during everything with Phantom Lord, but now she apparently shouldn’t be alone. How could things have changed so much?

“Oh, don’t worry, Levy.” Jet put his arm around her and pulled her close to his side. He could see the tears she was trying to hold back. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Levy couldn’t help the bitter chuckle at that slipped past her lips. _Jet _having to protect _her _r, that was a funny thought. “That’s just one thing I don’t think I’ll ever believe.” She joked.____

_____ _

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger, faster too.” He gave her a shy smile. “Took seven years, but I might finally be able to hold my own against you. For maybe five minutes.”

_____ _

Levy did laugh at that. She knew Jet and Droy were good wizards but neither were really good at fighting, that has somehow always been Levy’s job. They had always teased each other about how Levy was the strongest. Of course, if anyone else said something bad about her boys Levy would kick their butts.

_____ _

“That’s better. You shouldn’t cry. Crying won’t fix things. It just gives you a headache and ruins your beautiful makeup.” Jet said.

_____ _

Levy shook his head at him. “You know I don’t wear makeup.”

_____ _

“So you’re just naturally this gorgeous?” Jet smirked at her. Levy felt her face warm. Was Jet flirting with her? Jet had never flirted with her before. 

_____ _

“What are the tears about?” He asked as he brushed a stray one off her cheek.

_____ _

“Everything. I guess I’m just lonely.” She told him, she would never hide anything from him.

_____ _

“You don’t have to be alone. I know how that feels.” Jet’s arm tightened around her in an awkward side hug.

_____ _

“You do?” Levy looked up at him, confused.

_____ _

“I went seven years without the most important person in my life.” He gave her a sad smile. “Come on, you can stay with me and Droy tonight.”

_____ _

Something in her gut told her she shouldn’t take the hand he offered. She pushed that feeling to the side. This was Jet, he was her closest friend. She could trust him, he wouldn’t hurt her. She walked to his apartment with him and by the time they arrived her eyes were dry and she was laughing again. She could hear Droy snoring in his room and she curled up on the couch with Jet to watch a movie. At some point during the movie Levy had ended up in Jet’s lap. By the end of it he was kissing her. Alarm bells were going off in her head, but she silenced them. She wanted to feel close to someone, even if that someone was her best friend.

_____ _

Jet took her virginity that night. It hadn’t been a bad experience, he had been kind, gentle even. She had enjoyed herself at the time. The next morning however she regretted it. Part of herself hated what happened, resented it even. It was that resentment that put a strain on their relationship.

_____ _

She could remember waking up that morning in Jet’s bed. If she had thought that night had been a dream her body was quick to point out it had been painfully real. She was naked, her limbs felt like lead, and there was an undeniable ache between her legs. Her only saving grace was the fact Jet was still asleep next to her. She had rushed to get dressed and leave before he woke up. Her shame still ate at her nearly two months later.

_____ _

Jet had understood quickly that Levy didn’t want a repeat. It wasn’t hard to misunderstand the obvious signs, as she had disappeared in the morning. She had made a point of avoiding him for the following three days. He had been worried that things between them had been ruined completely by his actions, but lucky for him things seemed to go back to normal after nearly a week. By the end of the Grand Magic Games it seemed like their night together was all but forgotten.

_____ _

Jet couldn’t say he was happy that Levy put that night behind them. He loved Levy, he always had. He thought she finally understood how he felt and returned those feelings. Losing her for seven years had been pure torture. He had tried to get over her during that time, it was why he hated hearing Droy insist that she was alive. Holding out hope that Levy would return only made her being gone that much harder on him. He had felt ashamed and guilty when she had returned and it was why he had tried so hard to be there for her, to help her when no one else would. He had thought he might finally have a chance with her, especially after they spent a night together. He didn’t know what he had done wrong. He thought about it often and wished he knew the answer. As it was now, he was just happy she was still agreeing to be on a team with him.

_____ _

The team dynamic had changed a lot since the end of the games. Jet and Droy hadn’t worked together in the seven years Levy had been gone. She was the glue that held the team together and without her the two had fought quite a bit. The best thing they could do for their friendship was not work together. Now that Levy was back, so was team Shadowgear, with a few new additions. Jet didn’t understand it, but for some reason Gajeel and Lily were tagging along on their jobs now. Neither he, nor Droy, were particularly happy about this, but neither were willing to say anything about it to Levy. It was agreed between them that they would do whatever made Levy happy. That seemed to include letting the Iron Dragon-Slayer on the team.

_____ _

Having Gajeel as a part of the team had some benefits. They were able to take on harder job’s now with bigger rewards. Jet and Droy were both stronger than they had been when Levy left and were now on par with her ability. Levy didn’t have to save them all the time anymore. In fact, they were having to protect her more and more now. Gajeel had a tendency for picking out jobs that involved a lot of fighting and forgetting that Levy wasn’t much of a fighter. Jet didn’t understand why Levy wanted him on their team anyways. He was always running head first into trouble. In Jet’s opinion, he was as bad as Natsu.

_____ _

They had just got back from another difficult job and Levy was looking forward to a long soak in the bathhouse after maybe a drink or two at the bar. Levy wasn’t sure what she was going to do about her team. Things between her and Jet seemed to get harder with every job. She hadn’t told anyone about the ‘biggest mistake ever’ as she like to call her night with Jet. From what she could tell he hadn’t told anyone either. She had hoped they could just agree to forget about it, and maybe he had, but with how he fought with Gajeel she doubted it. It was putting a strain on the team and they spent as much time fighting each other as they did working the job. It had finally got to a point on this last job where she had to admit defeat and kick Gajeel off the team.

_____ _

“I’m sorry, Gajeel, but I don’t think this is working. I know you are trying to find a team, but I don’t think this is the one for you,” Levy had told him after yet another fight that had to be broken up between him and Jet.

_____ _

“I ain’t the problem, shrimp, it’s him.” Gajeel said, pointing a finger at Jet.

_____ _

“You keep leaving Levy unprotected.” Jet countered. Gajeel had been enjoying the most recent fight against a group of bandits too much and Levy got caught in the crossfire. She had just managed to dodge out of the way of one of his breath attacks in time to avoid getting shredded by the metal. As it was, a few stray pieces had caught her arm.

_____ _

“If she can’t watch out for herself than she ain’t got no right taking the job.” Gajeel told them. This was often his stance during these disagreements.

_____ _

“You’re the one that picked the job, Asshole!” Jet shouted right in Gajeel’s face.

_____ _

“Ya didn’t have to tag along.” He growled back at him. “Now get outta my face.”

_____ _

“Would you two just stop!” Levy shouted, jumping between the two of them. She placed a hand on each of their chest to push them apart. Gajeel’s chest was hard underneath her palm and her fingers instinctively curled into his shirt. Her other hand was hovering over Jet’s chest like it was reluctant to close the distance between them. She fixed her eyes onto Gajeel first.

_____ _

“Gajeel, you’re just not a good fit for this team. Maybe you would work better with Juvia or Cana?” Levy said, facing him. She could see the hurt in his eyes even though he tried to hide it. She didn’t know why he was so insistent on trying to work with Team Shadowgear. She assumed he must still feel guilty over pinning them to a tree when he was with Phantom Lord.

_____ _

“And you,” She turned to face Jet when she heard him snicker behind her. “Stop picking fights with Gajeel. You know he could handle these jobs alone. He takes us along so we can get stronger. You are the one holding us back right now, Jet.”

_____ _

“But, Levy …” Jet tried to defend himself but Levy wasn’t having it. The two of them had pushed her last nerve.

_____ _

“Don’t, Jet. I don’t want to hear it. Don’t make me regret my decisions more than I already do.” She saw the understanding on his face. He knew she was talking about sleeping with him. She saw how her words hurt him. She had cut him deep, but it had to be said eventually.

_____ _

“Levy, you don’t mean that.” Jet said, his voice almost pleading.

_____ _

“I’m sorry.” She couldn’t look at him, all the fight leaving her voice. She didn’t want to hurt her friend. “Let’s just go home.”

_____ _

Now, after one very awkward train ride home Levy was sitting at the bar with her first drink already gone and her second nearly there. It wasn’t often Levy drank when at the guild. She didn’t even have a book in front of her today. Lucy was gone on a job with her team and Levy’s team was avoiding her. Levy didn’t know which odd behavior attracted Mira to her, it could have been all of it, but she soon found Mira standing on the other side of the bar from her.

_____ _

“I heard you got those bandits taken care of in record time.” Mira said, trying to start a conversation. Her normal sickly-sweet voice was a little too much for Levy at the moment and she just shrugged at her. “Things not go as well as it sounded?”

_____ _

“You could say that.” Levy made a motion like she was going to close a book only to find there was no book there. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed.

_____ _

“What happened?” Mira asked, setting down another drink for Levy. She downed half her drink before answering.

_____ _

“The normal, Jet and Gajeel fighting.” Levy sighed before trying to smile at Mira. “Boy’s being boys I guess.”

_____ _

Mira gave her a worried frown. “I did have a job request for you but it seems like you might need a little break.”

_____ _

“What’s the job?” She asked. The requests for her normally involve translations for obscure dead languages. She had a special skill. She was proud of the fact that, even after disappearing for seven years, she was still the go-to language expert.

_____ _

“Dr. Windsor has gone missing. His wife was asking for you to find him and his team.” Mira’s tone was serious as she slid the job request across the bar to Levy.

_____ _

“Adare! How long has he been missing?” Levy snatched the piece of paper from Mira. Adare Windsor was an old friend of hers. He had been the first person she ever worked for after joining Fairy Tail. He was the reason Team Shadowgear had formed. He was a well-known archeologist who had done extensive research into multiple old religions that had existed in Fiore for the worship of mages. The old temples he worked in were always littered with traps, both mundane and magical, and he would always contract Shadowgear to help in his work. At least he had before Levy had disappeared.

_____ _

The job request said exactly what Levy had been expecting. Adare had been exploring a new site and he had yet to return. It said he and his two team members had been missing for a week, but Levy knew he could spend a month or more in his digs without contacting anyone outside of his team. It was possible they had been gone a lot longer than anyone knew. Adare had been like a father to her over the years. There was no way she was going to hand this over to anyone else. Team Shadowgear was specially designed to handle this. All they needed was a good tracker.

_____ _

“I’m taking it.” Levy told Mira getting up from the bar, her drink forgotten. She rushed over and told Jet and Droy about it. It came as no surprise that they both felt as strongly as she did. All three were still packed from the last job and had agreed to meet at the train station to take the next one heading east. Levy just had to grab some research notes and convince one last person into coming along. She knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

_____ _

Gajeel was at his normal table with Lily. He was making a pointed effort to ignore Levy and the rest of her team. He was aware they were scrambling together for some job, but he acted like he didn’t notice them. Only Lily had noticed the change in Gajeel’s behavior, of course he had been there to see Levy kick them off the team.

_____ _

“You’re being childish. This is exactly why Levy doesn’t want to work with you.” Lily told him. Gajeel didn’t have a response, he was acting childish, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t about to admit to anyone, especially Lily, that Levy had hurt his feelings. He was Black Steel Gajeel, he didn’t have feelings. Especially soft romantic feelings for a certain blue haired shrimp. Nope, he didn’t have those.

_____ _

Gajeel tried to ignore Levy when she came over to his table. Lily greeted her, but he only grunted in acknowledgment of her existence. Childish, yes, but he already accepted he was being a child. One thing he couldn’t ignore was the scent of fear and salty tears mixed in with her normal scent of old books and jasmine.  
“What’s wrong, Shrimp?” Gajeel asked without thinking about it.

_____ _

“I need your help on this job… Please.” She added the last in a pleading tone. Levy had been working quickly to get this job together. She had struggled to keep her emotions in check since getting the request, but so far, she had kept the tears at bay.

_____ _

“I thought you didn’t want me on your team. I’m not a good fit.” He reminded her. He silently cursed himself when he saw her flinch at his words.

_____ _

“I need a tracker and you’re the best in the guild.” She tried to hand him the job request, but he kept his arms crossed over his chest. Lily reached out to take it, reading it over. 

_____ _

“Do you know this man? Dr. Windsor?” Lily asked.

_____ _

“Yes, he is a good man and an old friend of mine,” Levy said. She was surprised how normal her voice sounded considering the storm of emotions inside her.

_____ _

“What can we do to help?” Lily asked her. He forced the paper into Gajeel’s hand at the same time.

_____ _

“The temple is going to be a maze. It would take forever for us to search it from top to bottom and they might not have that kind of time. Gajeel could sniff them out.” Levy was looking hopefully at Gajeel.

_____ _

“You know it don’t work like that. Says they have been missing for ‘bout a week. Scent trail is cold and dead by now. You’d be better off taking someone like Bickslow who could search out their souls,” Gajeel told her, handing the paper back to her. 

_____ _

Levy had considered about that, had thought about anything that would mean she wouldn’t have to stand here and beg Gajeel for help. The truth was, if the worse had happened and the team was dead, Bickslow wouldn’t be able to find them. Not to mention, he was already on a job and wouldn’t be back for who knew how long. She couldn’t risk waiting for Bickslow to get back or Natsu. Wendy didn’t have the tracking experience Gajeel did and, honestly, most of the members she had known and trusted were gone. Fairy Tail was still working to re-cope the loss of almost all their members. New people were joining every day, but she didn’t know them. She didn’t know their skill sets or if she could trust them in the dangerous situation they were bound to find in the ruins. She didn’t really like it, but Gajeel was her best option at the moment.

_____ _

Levy decided that she was going to have to switch tactics. “They are the only people to step foot in this temple in at least three hundred years. Are you telling me you can’t track the scent of the only humans around for miles just because the trail is a few days old? I guess you’re not the great Dragon-Slayer I thought you were. Maybe I should contact Rouge,” Levy sighed, playing up the disappointment. “I’m sure he could manage just fine.”

_____ _

“What’d you say?” Gajeel was clearly offended. “Ryos got nothing on my nose.”

_____ _

“But you already made it clear you won’t help,” She sighed and started to tuck the job request away as she waited for him to respond.

_____ _

“What’s in it for me?” Gajeel finally asked. He reached out and snatched the request back from her.

_____ _

Levy tried not to let her excitement show. She thought about what she had to offer him, she hadn’t even looked at the reward for the job. She hadn’t cared, she only cared about Adare. “You can have the full reward, I don’t want it and neither does Jet or Droy. Adare has two boys at home, thirteen and ten. Their names are Luke and Dominic.” She pulled a photo out of her bag. Her desperation showing in her voice. “If you won’t do it for me. If you won’t do it for the money. Then at least do it for them, Gajeel, please.”

_____ _

Gajeel looked at the photo. There was a middle-aged man in the center. He had brown hair that was cut short with a full beard. He looked to be shorter, under six feet, with a rounded belly. On his right was a beautiful woman with dark red hair. She looked to be about the same age as the man and from how she was leaning on him he could assume she was his wife. On either side of them were two younger men, in their early twenties at the latest. Both wore glasses and had messy brown hair. In the middle, in front of everyone were two children. The older one had dark brown hair like his father. The younger one had crimson colored hair that was tied into a low ponytail.

_____ _

He sighed, “Fine, you don’t have to get all moppy-eyed. I’ll help ya, I guess.” Gajeel gave in. He had always had a soft spot for kids. Between the two boys and Levy’s barely controlled tears, it was too much for him to continue to try and keep up appearances. “You’re just lucky I haven’t finished unpacking.”

_____ _

Relief flooded through Levy at his words. “Do you mean it?” She had honestly been starting to wonder if she had completely ruined things with Gajeel. 

_____ _

“We would be honored to help,” Lily said, getting a noncommittal noise of agreement from Gajeel. “We will head to the station as soon as we grab our things.”

_____ _

“Thank you!” She pulled Lily into a hug. She was about to hug Gajeel too, but stopped herself abruptly, blushing slightly. “Thank you, Gajeel. I owe you.”

_____ _

“Damn right you owe me and I plan to collect.” Gajeel told her before getting to his feet. “Come on Lily, let’s get ready.”

_____ _

Levy watched them leave. For some reason his parting words left a feeling of dread in her stomach. Did she really want to owe Gajeel a favor? She shook off the feeling, to help Adare she would do anything. She turned her back to his retreating form and ran off to get her research notes from the guild library. She had notes on every civilization she had discovered and explored over the years. She grabbed the books she needed to help with translations and went to pick up her things.

_____ _

Thirty minutes later Team Shadowgear was gathered at the train station. Levy was half expecting Gajeel not to show even though he said he would. The train was already boarding and she still had yet to see him and Gajeel didn’t hide easily. She was just starting to get really nervous when she saw his unruly black head above the crowd. She quickly waved him over and saw Lily pointing at them as the two men worked their way over.

_____ _

“What is he doing here?” Jet demanded when he spotted Gajeel. “ _This _is who we have been waiting for?”__

_______ _ _ _

“Not my fault you can’t handle the job on your own.” Gajeel said, glaring at the speed mage.

_______ _ _ _

“Guy’s let’s not fight about this.” Droy muscled his way between the two men who just glared at each other over his head. 

_______ _ _ _

“If you don’t want me to help find your friend than I’ll leave.” Gajeel turned his back on them. “Come on, Lily.”

_______ _ _ _

Levy rushed forward and latched onto his arm before he could get more than a step away. “Please, could you two just get along for this one job. For me?”

_______ _ _ _

Damnit! Those tears were in her eyes again. Levy had always been so strong. She hadn’t cried when he bolted her to a tree. She hadn’t cried when they faced certain death against Acnologia. She hadn’t cried when they faced a horde of dragons. But she was going to cry now just because he was being an ass about helping find her friends. He really could be a bastard at times.

_______ _ _ _

“I’ll behave if he does,” Jet answered before Gajeel got the chance. A smug look on his face at being the bigger man and answering first. Levy was giving Gajeel a hopeful look.  
“Yeah, fine, let’s just do this,” Gajeel agreed before he boarded the train. It was going to be a long trip and he didn’t even know where they were going. Damn, the things he would do for this woman.

_______ _ _ _


	2. Dragonoph Temple

Two hours by train and another hour by SE car found the group at the mouth of a trail. The spindly little thing was rudimentary at best and led into a dense forest. Levy had been strategizing with the guys on the ride over. Gajeel had tried to pay attention, he truly did, but his stomach had other ideas. He hated his motion sickness, hated any weakness really. They were walking for close to an hour before his stomach had fully settled and he felt up for conversation.

“So what do we even know about this temple we are looking for?” He asked. He was walking in the back of the group with Lily flying alongside him. Levy was in front with Jet and Droy was standing as a buffer in the middle.

“Didn’t you listen to Levy on the train?” Jet sneered as he shot him a look over his shoulder. 

Gajeel suppressed the urge to growl at him. He had promised Levy he would try to behave. “I was a little preoccupied.” Each word was dripping with his disdain for the speed mage.

“Preoccupied? You were practically sleeping.” Jet came to a stopped abruptly and turned on Gajeel.

Gajeel clenched his fists at his side, ready to punch Jet, reasoning that it might be worth the scolding later. Lily placed one of his paws on Gajeel’s shoulder to remind him to stay calm. The smirking bastard knew each and every one of Gajeel’s buttons and he loved to push them. He wouldn’t be so daring if it wasn’t for his speed. Gajeel had yet to be able to land a hit on the smaller man, though not for lack of trying.

“Jet, you know Gajeel gets motion sick,” Levy said over her shoulder as she continued walking. If the boys wanted to fight they could do it right there and leave her out of it. She wasn’t there to be their babysitter. She was there to find her friends and that's what she was going to do. 

“The truth is, we don’t know much about the temple. Mrs. Windsor said they believed it to be a Dragonoph Temple. We have only come across one other temple like that and it was badly damaged. We didn’t get much information out of it at all, I’m afraid,” She went on to explain. The rest of the group started to follow behind her.

“Dragonoph? As in dragon worship?” Gajeel asked, moving up so he was walking beside Levy. “They’re real?”

Gajeel couldn’t remember much from when he was younger. Most of his early childhood was just blank. He didn’t know how he ended up being raised by a dragon, but he could remember everything Metalicana had ever told him. When he was really little, maybe five or six he wasn’t sure, he had been told that the Dragonoph would kidnap him if he wandered off. Gajeel had been convinced they had something to do with Metallicana’s disappearance fourteen years ago, but after searching for two years and not finding any trace of them he gave up. He figured it was just a story his asshole of an adoptive father told him to scare him into behaving.  
Levy gave Gajeel a surprised look, shocked he knew what that word ment. “Yes, that’s exactly right. At least that’s what we called them. They had carvings of dragon’s all over the temple.”

“Metalicana told me about them. Well, more like warned me. I always thought it was just the old man’s way of trying to scare me,” Gajeel replied.

“The best we could figure was they existed three hundred to four hundred years ago, but we honestly don’t know much that will help us and I fear that what we do know is wrong?” Levy said, her worry showing on her face.

Lily whizzed forward from Gajeel to fly on the other side of Levy. “Wrong in what way?” 

“Well, we believe they worshiped dragons and were either Dragon-Slayers or worshiped them as well,” She said.

Gajeel let out his characteristic little laugh, “Gehe, I could get behind a group of people worshiping me.” His little smirk remained on his face as he thought briefly about all of the praise and power and what it could do to sway Levy toward him.

“That’s the thing, I’m starting to think they didn’t. I was looking over my notes from the temple we found several years ago on the way here. There were multiple depictions of dragons on the walls. Battles with each other and battles with humans. Carvings of a man with a dragon behind him. A man inside a dragon. Over and over again. However, as I looked over my notes I realized it was the same dragon being repeated. I don’t think it was a general worship of just any dragon I think it was worship of one dragon,” Levy explained to them.

“Do you know what kind of dragon?” Droy asked, fear clear in his voice. “It’s not one that’s covered in fire like back in Crocus is it?” If there was one thing in the world his plant magic was useless against it was a hundred-foot-tall dragon covered from snout to tail in hellfire. Droy still had nightmares about that battle. He would wake in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, still able to feel the blazing heat over his skin.

“What are you so worried about? Levy said these temples were built like four hundred years ago. It’s not like we are going to face any dragons. There’s only one dragon even around anymore and no one has seen him in seven years,” Jet said, clapping Droy on the back. It was his attempt to make his friend feel better.

Droy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. “You’re right. What are the chances of us facing a dragon again? It’s not like they worshiped …”

“Acnologia,” Gajeel said, cutting the man off as he came to an abrupt stop. Jet and Droy both ran into him, but he ignored them. He was staring transfixed at what appeared to be an old, weathered stone hut. It was small and covered in vines, the forest working to reclaim the structure over time. The dilapidated hut would have easily been ignored if it wasn’t for the makeshift campsite set up around it. Based on the tables and equipment scattered around, it looked like this had been the archeologist base camp. That wasn’t what had made Gajeel stop cold however, it was the carving over the doorway to the building. The vines that covered the hut having been removed to make the image easy to see.  
The stone relief carved over the entrance had been distorted with time. Parts had been cracked or faded away by years of storms and exposure to the elements. Most of the fine details had faded away, not surviving the test of time, but there was still enough left to make out the image of the large dragon in flight. There was no mistaking the shape of the wings, the large head and crown or the pattern that covered the beast. Anyone who had seen this particular dragon would recognize it. It was impossible to forget what the Black Dragon looked like.

Gajeel felt Lily cling to his arm. He knew his little friend was tough as nails, but the mere thought of Acnologia was enough to scare anyone. Gajeel himself would be happy to never see the creature again. Levy felt herself begin to tremble uncontrollably as she came face to face with the image of the creature that took seven years of her life away. The other temple had been heavily damaged, the carvings in far worse shape. She had suspected the dragon represented was Acnologia, but to be faced with the evidence was … terrifying.

As a human Acnologia had been cruel, sadistic, bloodthirsty. He had been responsible for the death of over four hundred dragons. He was single handedly responsible for the near extinction of all dragon kind. He allowed his Dragon-Slayer magic to consume him and eventually he became one of creatures he despised. Gajeel feared him as much as anyone, but for far different reasons. Gajeel could see himself in Acnologia. His past actions were reflected in Acnologia. If It wasn’t for Fairy Tail he may have become the same type of beast. There was a chance he still could. The thought was enough to make his blood run cold.

Levy felt Jet put his arm around her. She wanted to push him away, but she needed the comfort he was offering her. He pulled her tight against his chest and she stopped trembling. Droy placed one of his hands on her shoulder to offer his own comfort. “So that’s what he looks like?” Droy asked.

“Yeah, that’s him alright.” Gajeel rolled his shoulders to release the tension that was building up in them. “Don’t tell me this is the temple, because if it is then your friends ain’t here.”

“Most of the structure will be underground. There should be a way down inside,” Levy said, moving away from Jet. 

Gajeel tried to contain his annoyance. Dragons were creatures of the sky, they did not like to be below ground and that meant he wasn’t too fond of it either. “This just gets better and better,” He mumbled to himself as he followed Levy and her team inside the small building.

“Just think about how happy this is going to make Levy,” Lily said as he walked next to him.

Gajeel glared down at the tiny Exceed. “And why would I care about that?”

“Give it up Gajeel, if you didn’t care you wouldn’t have agreed to come along.” Lily gave him a knowing smirk. “Face facts, you like her.”

“I do n –“ Gajeel was cut off when he impacted something solid. He had just been about to cross the threshold of the building when he walked into an invisible wall. Runes flared to life in front of him. “Are you fucking kidding me!”

Everyone turned around at Gajeel’s shout. No one else had any issue entering the small building. The runes seemed to be specifically targeting Gajeel. He tried pressing against it, but the runes simply flared brighter and still refused him entry. Gajeel slammed his fist against the invisible barrier to no effect. He knew it wouldn’t do anything, but damn did it make him feel better. 

“Give me a minute to rewrite this” Levy crouched down in front of the wall and pulled out a book from her bag. She started trying to translate the runes into something she could read and then dispel.

“What type of dragon worshipers set up a barrier to keep out Dragon-Slayers?” Gajeel asked as he read over the runes. It was a very basic spell that simply stated that no one with Dragon-Slayer magic was allowed to pass. 

Levy paused what she was doing, her head snapping up to look at him. “You can read this?!”

“You can’t, Shrimp?” Gajeel sounded more surprised than Levy had.

“I’m fluent in five dead languages and decent in seven more. I’m sorry if I’m lacking in knowledge of the language used by an obscure religion we know nothing about,” Levy snapped at him. She didn’t know why she felt so defensive, but come on, how could Gajeel know a language she didn’t.

“It ain’t a dead language. It’s what I was taught growing up.” Gajeel pointed to a group of ruins. “This says, ‘Dragon Warrior’ and over here it says something about baring entry. Over here it says something about defiling human kind. Basically, a lot of fancy talk for I ain’t welcome.”

Levy, Jet and Droy were all staring at Gajeel slack jawed. The men were having a hard time believing that Gajeel could read something Levy couldn’t. Levy knew for a fact this wasn’t a language spoken anywhere in Earthland, she could at least read every known language currently in use and this wasn’t one of them. 

“You’re making that up,” Jet accused.

“Are you trying to say I don’t know how to read?” Gajeel growled at him.

“Well I’ve never seen you read anything before,” Jet shot back at him.

Gajeel snarled at him, “Why don’t you come over here and say that to my face.”

“Why don’t you come over here and make me?” Jet shot back smirking, knowing that for the moment he was safe

Levy tuned out the two boys bickering as she worked out the runes. She focused on the spots that Gajeel had pointed out. It took her a few minutes and a few translations before she was finally able to figure out the proper wording needed to allow Gajeel entry. She took out her light pen and quickly rewrote the necessary lines. As soon as she finished a fist flew over her head and just missed hitting Jet in the jaw.

“Missed me,” Jet taunted from where he was now standing across the room next to a staircase that descended underground. 

Gajeel let out a low predatory growl and took a step toward Jet. “Stay still you bastard.”

Levy rushed in front of Gajeel and placed both hands on his chest. “Gajeel, you promised,” She pleaded with him.

Gajeel turned his piercing red gaze to her. He wanted to argue that Jet was the one that started it but he knew Levy wouldn’t care. She always took Jet’s side on things like this. That thought was like acid, making his gut to tie into knots. He had to bite back a scathing remark. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself. 

The air smelled old and stale. There was very little air movement in the small building. He could just pick up the faint trace of something. It wasn’t the smell of humans or any other living thing. It had the burning scent of chemicals and made his nose wrinkle. Whatever it was it wasn’t something naturally accruing and it was coming up from the stairs. It was the only lead he had so he figured, what the hell, might as well follow it. 

“Downstairs, lead the way, Jet,” Gajeel said, insisting the speed mage go first. The chemical he was picking up wasn’t that of perfume or cologne or anything similar that. It smelled toxic and if someone was going to walk into that he would rather it be Jet before anyone else. He had Jet head down first followed by Droy, himself, with Lily and Levy in the rear where it was safest.

The staircase lead them deep underground. There was hundreds of stairs and their decent took several long minutes. Each step they took downward dropped them into deeper and deeper darkness. When they finally reached the bottom, they were alone in pitch blackness. Even Gajeel, with his shadow magic, couldn’t see anything.

“I got this, guys.” Droy said and a few moments later the room was filled with a green glow. The source of the light was coming from small plants that were now scattered around the room. It was a small room with three hallways branching off of it. Gajeel sniffed at each before directing Jet down the right hall. Unfortunately when Gajeel went to follow he ran into another rune wall. 

“What the hell?! Again?” Gajeel snarled. This wall had similar warding to the first only the wording was more complex. Levy kneeled back down and began working to dispel this new wall.

“It looks like this hall goes on for a long way. I’ll start scoping out ahead for any more traps,” Jet called. He grabbed one of Droy’s plants to work as a torch for him. He meet Gajeel’s eyes and smirked at him. “You guys can work on freeing the bloodhound.”

“Remember, Levy said there might be pitfalls and poison arrows,” Droy cautioned him. They had discussed the traps found with the other temple during the train ride. Jet just gave them a smile and a half-hearted salute before racing off. The glow from his light fading away quickly.

It took slightly less time for Levy to work out the translation for the new wall. While the wording was more complex she already knew the steps she had to take to make it something she could understand. They waited around for a few minutes after Gajeel was free for Jet to return. When five minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Jet, it was decided that they should go after him. 

Droy lead the way with Lily flying alongside him. He dropped more seeds as they went that quickly sprouted into more lantern plants to light the way. Along the way they came across two pitfalls that had apparently been triggered by Jet. Unfortunately, Jet was not at the bottom of either. Gajeel watched, impressed, as Droy covered the distance of the pits with vines. They grew at unbelievable speed and latticed themselves together to make a bridge that they could easily walk across.

“So those two do have a use after all?” Gajeel commented as he watched Droy work.

“It would seem so,” Lily agreed.

“There isn’t a booby-trap that Team Shadowgear can’t beat!” Levy boasted, proud of her team. 

In a few places there were arrows scattered on the floor near the wall. Gajeel could smell the poison that the tips were coated in. The dust on the ground had been disturbed when Jet ran through but the arrows were dust free meaning they had landed their recently.

“Watch out for those arrows, lily, their poisoned,” He warned his friend when Lily walked a little too close to them.

“Jet must have set these off when he came by,” Lily commented.

“If we’re lucky he got hit with one,” Gajeel smirked.

“Gajeel!” Levy snapped at him. She was quickly reaching her limit with the two of them.

“What?” Gajeel tried to sound innocent. “I just ment it would be easier to find him if he was lying dead somewhere.”

Levy rolled her eyes and walked ahead with Droy. It was best not to feed into Gajeel when he was in a mood like this.

“You’re not going to win her over like that,” Lily told him in a quiet tone.

“I ain’t trying to win her over,” He grumbled back. He wasn’t going to let Lily know that having Levy walk in front gave him a great view on her butt and legs. He could handle her being a little angry for a view like this.

“Look, there’s Jet’s light,” Droy said, pulling Gajeel’s eyes off the view in front of him.

A little way down the hall, through the darkness, they could see the green glow of a lantern plant. They made their way down there, being careful to watch out for anymore traps along the way. When they finally reached Jet he was looking pissed off while sitting on the ground. He was on the opposite side on a large pit from them. He was backed up against the end of the corridor, feet dangling off the edge. There was two doorways on either side of the pit that were just out of reach.

“About time you guys got here. I’m a little trapped here,” Jet said, carefully standing up.

“What way from here?” Levy asked as Droy set to work on another bridge for Jet.

Gajeel scented the air. It was harder to get a trace now. The chemical scent was stronger now than ever, but the air was stirred up now thanks to Jet. He took a few seconds to test each hallway. He could smell slightly more of it coming from the hall to the left. He nodded in that direction.

“Something’s down to the left. Not sure if it’s them but it’s the only thing that doesn’t smell like dust in this place,” Gajeel told them. Droy instantly went to work creating a bridge to that door.

Things after that were easy. The remainder of the temple was designed like a maze. They didn’t run into any more traps and Gajeel ended up taking the lead, finding it easier to sniff out the correct direction without the others in his way. He lead them through the labyrinth of tunnels. The green glow from Droy’s plants creating unnerving shadows across the carvings on the walls giving the impression they were surrounded by dragons. The scent they were following slowly became overpowering to Gajeel. He had to cover his nose as they walked into a large room near the source of the smell.

The chamber appeared to be as large as the guildhall with a domed ceiling. There was an archway across the room and that was where the chemical scent was originating from. In the center of the room was a table with notepads and lacrima cameras scattered across the surface. It looked like this had been the room Dr. Windsor had been working in last. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the room now.

“Gajeel, look at this,” Lily said, getting his attention. He was floating near the top of the dome. In the center of the ceiling was a huge carving of Acnologia. This carving had not been damaged by time and was crystal clear. The image was so life like Gajeel was taken aback for a second. As he looked around he noticed the walls were covered in carvings of dragons and humans in alternating order. The humans were both men and women, some adults, most teenagers and some young children, as young as four or five years old. As Gajeel’s eyes scanned the carvings, he noticed they all had an X crossing them out. He walked closer to the wall to examine them better and slowly walked around the room. Levy was doing much the same thing, circling in the opposite direction. As his eyes scanned the images, they were drawn to something that looked familiar.

He recognized one of the dragons just above head level on the wall. Their body was built with plates like armor, head smoothed back with an elongated pointed jaw, the long tail that split at the end like a shark. He knew this dragon instantly, would recognize him anywhere even without the image of the boy standing next to him. The boy had long wild hair with facial piercings in place of eyebrows and down both sides of his nose and his chin. Metalicana and a young Gajeel. Metalicana’s image had an X over it.

Gajeel had reached out to touch the image of his father without even realizing it. His fingers gently caressed the image before tightening into a fist. He closed his eyes as emotions washed over him. He felt the stab of grief from losing his father like it was fresh, not something that happened fourteen years ago. He missed his father even though he acted like he was unaffected. He had always held out hope that he would see Metalicana alive again one day but seeing this image saw that dream ripped away from him.

Gajeel’s body felt like ice even as red-hot anger grew in him. These people had known his father, they knew what happened to him. Gajeel wanted answers. He wanted someone to pay for whatever happened to Metalicana. He needed answers. He needed revenge. He needed his family.

Gajeel jumped when he felt a hand on his arm. He hadn’t noticed Levy approaching him. He hadn’t heard her calling out for him. His entire being had been focused on the image in front of him. He was lucky Levy was too short to clearly make out either image. She would have questions just as he did and he didn’t have the answers for either of them.

“Are you alright?” She asked him, sounding worried.

Gajeel brushed her off and nodded towards the other doorway. When he spoke his voice was rough with barely controlled emotion. “The stench is coming from in there. Don’t know what it is, so be careful.”

Gajeel barely got the words out of his mouth before Jet was racing into the next room. Runes flared to life as he crossed the threshold. They didn’t hold him back however and he was able to pass into the room easily. In the center of the room was the bodies of three men. Before Jet could reach them however the room started to fill with a purple gas. The noxious fumes seemed to seep in from the walls around him, quickly beginning to fill the small room. Jet attempted to run in a circle around the bodies and create a cyclone with his speed only to find he was unable to access his magic. Panic started to set in as Jet realized the situation he was in and ran for the exit. However, when he reached the doorway, the runes placed there would not let him pass.

Jet beat on the rune barrier in a futile attempt to escape. He could hardly breathe as the gas rose higher in the room, choking him. Levy rushed forward in an attempt to help Jet only to have Droy grab her before she could rush past the runes. Levy fought against his hold as she watched Jet beating his fist against the barrier. Tears flowed down her face as she watched the fear on his face turn into acceptance before his finally fell to the ground. 

Tendrils of the gas were able to sneak past the runes and started covering the floor in the next room where everyone else was. The gas covered the floor before it started to crawl up the bodies of Droy and Levy. She didn’t seem to register this new threat, her eyes fixed on Jet’s body. 

“Get as high as you can!” Gajeel yelled at Droy and Levy. He realized it was too late to help Jet and if they didn’t act quickly they would face the same fate as the speed mage. Gajeel was already using his iron claws to quickly climb up the steep walls of the chamber. Lily had flown over and scooped up Levy before she could protest, taking her to the peak of the domed ceiling. Droy planted some quick grow vines that lifted him into the air to safety.

Lily, Levy and Droy were all focused on the gas that slowly filled the room, only covering about half way up the walls before stopping. Levy was crying uncontrollably. There was nothing they could do, no way they could have saved Jet. Knowing this didn’t make it any easier for her to accept. They had never faced a trap like that, how could they have known what was awaiting them. Levy was mourning the loss of her friend and the fact that, in the end, she had never been able to make things right between them.

While everyone else was focused on the gas that was slowly dissipating in the room, Gajeel was focused on the wall next to him. There was more of the carving that were everywhere in the room, but it was one in particular that caught his eye. It was of a little girl with long hair and large eyes. What drew his eyes to this carving was the fact it was not crossed out. The girl looked familiar to him in much the same way Rouge had been when they first met. The image stirred up some dormant memories from his past. They wavered in his mind, just out of reach. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but if this wall meant what Gajeel was beginning to believe it did, it meant that there was another Dragon-Slayer out there, alive.


	3. Please Don't Be Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for being gone for so long. I had some mental health issues I had to deal with and then a death in the family. It's been a little rough but I hope to be back to a normal posting schedule soon.

The sound of Levy’s sobs were the only thing that filled the chamber as the gas slowly dissipated. Gajeel released his hold on the wall and dropped to the floor to investigate the doorway. Lily lowered Levy down into her feet and was immediately pulled into her arms. Levy collapsed to her knees, her legs unwilling to hold her up. Lily allowed himself to be pulled to her chest as she cried into his fur. Droy came over and wrapped his arms around the suffering Levy, pushing his own grief aside to offer comfort to her.

Gajeel tried his best to ignore his grieving teammates. It wasn’t that he was cold hearted … really … he just had a job to focus on. The scent from the gas was overpowering and Gajeel was forced to keep his nose covered or risk suffering from its residual effects. Jet’s body was laying just on the other side of the threshold. His body was spread out like a rag doll someone just tossed on the ground. His head was held at an awkward angle where it was pressed against the rune barrier. The runes were flaring bright, preventing his body from leaving the room even in death.

Gajeel took his time reading over them. He didn’t have a complete grasp of the language, his father only taught him so much, but he understood enough to make out the rules that governed the room. From what he could understand it was triggered when someone with magic enters the room. Magic was not allowed to be used within the barrier, nor was it allowed to leave. The presence of magic entering the room also triggered a sleeping gas that would put everyone in the room into stasis until they were removed from the barrier. 

_ Sleeping gas? Damn … lucky bastard is still alive.  _ Gajeel thought.

Gajeel glanced behind him at the group of mourners. Levy was curled around Lily while sobs racked her body and Droy rubbed her back to try and calm her down. He sighed and rolled his eyes at the unnecessary water works. “Quit crying over there. He’s still alive.” 

Levy looked up in disbelief, eyes rimmed in red. “Wha- What did you say?” She whispered, a spark of hope lighting her eyes.

“It’s just some knockout gas. This says he will be fine if we get him outta there. Just need a smart shrimp to take down this wall.” He gave her a small smile. 

Levy gave him a weak smile back before brushing her tears away. She released her hold on Lily and moved over to the runes on shaky legs.

Pulling out her books, Levy sat on the ground in front of Jet’s slumped form. This was the hardest translation she had done yet. Not only were the rules governing the room complex and multilayered, her eyes kept drifting to Jet. She would be halfway through a line when her eyes would be subconsciously drawn to the limp body. He looked lifeless laying in front of her. On more than one occasion she had to stop herself from reaching out to him. Gajeel said he was alive, she confirmed what the runes said, but he still looked dead to her. It was difficult for her to focus past the lump in her throat and tightness in her chest. They say you don’t know what something means to you until it’s gone. Levy was learning how true that statement was.

“How’s it going, Levy?” Gajeel asked. His deep voice echoed off the walls of the silent chamber and caused Levy to jump. She had been staring at Jet again. She didn’t know how much time had passed, just staring, willing Jet to open his eyes, to smile at her, anything. She could almost hear his cheerful laughter if she tried hard enough. 

Levy sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands, tears threatening to spill again. “I can’t do this. I’m not good enough.” She choked out.

Lily walked over and put his paw on her arm, waiting for her to look at him. “You are the only one who can do this.”

“I know you can do this, Levy. You were born for this kind of stuff,” Droy said, offering his support.

Gajeel pointed to the last few lines of the text. “This is the crap about the gas. You deal with that and I’ll … go in and … take care of … Jet,” He said through gritted teeth. If Levy noticed the disdain in his voice she didn’t comment on it, only smiled at him and refocused.

It only took a few minutes before Levy gave Gajeel the all clear to enter the room. The runes flared brighter as he passed and he stood just inside the room for a minute to make sure he wasn’t getting to be suffocated before he knelt down beside Jet’s unconscious form. The chemical smell still lingered in the room and it made Gajeel feel lightheaded. He moved Jet to his back and looked him over quickly. 

“Still breathing. Heart’s beating. Just out cold,” He relayed to the group. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Gajeel’s enhanced senses revealed things to him that normal human senses would miss. Even in the dim green light he could tell Jet was pale and sweaty. His heart was beating but it was slow and erratic, at times it seemed to just stop for one or two long seconds. He couldn’t tell Levy that though. He needed her to focus on getting them out and not worry about Jet. “I’m going to check on the others.” He told them before moving further into the chamber.

The light didn’t penetrate far into the room. The three men near the center were nearly engulfed fully by the shadows. Gajeel couldn’t make out much of their features. One was older with a rounded belly, the other two young and fit. One had long hair, the other short. He couldn’t make out much more than that. The older man and one with short hair both were in decent condition. He could smell illness on the old man and both were most likely dehydrated and starving. The man with long hair was in the worse shape, worse than Jet. His skin was cold and clammy, breathing shallow, there was moments his heart would stop for up to ten seconds, then slowly flutter again. Gajeel was worried this kid wouldn’t make it if they couldn’t get him help. 

It felt like an eternity that Gajeel was trapped in that room, but really it was only fifteen to twenty minutes. He stayed close to the man with long hair, listening intently to his heart. Gajeel was here to retrieve three archeologist and he was going to bring all three back alive. That was his job and he never left a job half finished. The dark of the room seemed alive and made Gajeel feel uneasy. Truth was he had never been a fan of the dark and no amount of shadow magic was going to change how he felt about it. He was relieved then there was a flash of light, indicating the breaking of the rune barrier. Gajeel could just make out Droy as he pulled Jet from the room and a small shape floated his way.

“How are they?” Lily asked, walking around each man, trying to get a better look at them in the dark. 

“Those two are going to be fine,” Gajeel said, indicating the two men in question with a nod of his head. “This kid’s lucky to be alive.”

Gajeel carefully picked up the young man with long hair. He moved slowly, worried that any sudden movement might be all it took to stop the man’s heart for good. He watched Lily turn into his larger battle form to pick up the two remaining men. Gajeel followed him back to the larger main chamber.

In the main chamber, Droy had laid down Jet on the ground next to the table. He and Levy were looking over him, now able to see how pale he looked. Lily laid the two men he was carrying on the other side of the table, Gajeel following him with the kid. Now that they were in the light it was clear how pale and malnourished they were.

Levy was still worrying over Jet when Gajeel and Lily came out with the other men. She didn’t even give them a second glance. It had taken her a while to figure out how to rewrite the rules in a way that didn’t affect the reversal portion of the rules. She had figured it out in the end and now Jet was free. He was already starting to get his color back.

‘“These guys could use some help.” Gajeel said, pulling Droy and Levy’s attention away from Jet. Droy rushed over and looked over the three men. He placed a few seeds around the group that sprouted into plants that put off a decent amount of heat. Next he went to each man and attempted to give them a sip of water. Levy walked over slowly to see how she could help and her jaw dropped when she saw the men.

The oldest man was clearly Adare, but he looked older than in the photo Levy had of him. His hair was thinning, his beard overgrown and streaked with gray. His face had more wrinkles including deep laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. His eyes were sunken with dark circles around them and his lips were cracked. When the water Droy offered touched his lips he greedily drank it up. Groaning as he started to come around.

The man next to him looked to be in his late teens to early twenties. His dark brown hair was cut close to his head. He had a weeks’ worth of beard growth, but it was patchy and thin in places. It was clear he didn’t normally keep facial hair. He had the same dry, sunken appearance Adare had. He looked familiar to Levy and looked enough like Adare that they could be related somehow. He blinked his eyes blearily as he started to come around as well.

It was the last man that had caused Levy to freeze in shock. He was far paler than the rest, with the same sunken features. He looked to be in his late teens at most, he wasn’t even old enough to really grow much of any facial hair. His breathing was still shallow and ragged and it was easy to see he was struggling. What drew Levy’s attention was his hair. It was long, laying around his shoulders even being tied back, and it was a deep crimson color.

A feeling of loss washed over Levy for probably the hundredth time in the last few months. It hit her at that moment the last time she had seen the Windsor’s had been a month before the S-Class Trials, a month before Tenrou Island, a month before she lost seven years of her life. Luke and Dominic weren’t little children anymore, they had grown into the men laying before her. She should have known, should have realized sooner, but she hadn’t and it hit her now. Looking over the three men she mourned the loss of the life she could never get back, the life she would never get to experience, the moments she should have had with these children that she never would.

“Dom isn’t looking to well,” Droy said as he leaned over the man with red hair. He was the only one who had yet to start waking up. Both Adare and Luke were now struggling to sit up and look around at their surroundings. Both accepting water from Gajeel and Lily. 

“Kid needs time. He’s better than he was. Let him rest for a minute. Speedy is still out too,” Gajeel pointed out. “I’m going to see what is so worth protecting that they set up a trap like that.”

Gajeel got up and grabbed one of Droy’s lantern plants and headed back into the attached room. The antechamber looked to be set up like a small library or records room. Their were piles of books and collapsed shelves littered around the room. There was a thick layer of dust covering nearly everything in the room. The floor was marred with overlapping boot prints from the men working in the room. There was a neat pile of books in the center of the room, near where he found the men. 

Gajeel walked over to the nearest pile of books and wood and carefully pick up one of the tomes. There was an inch worth of dust caked over the cover that he carefully wiped away. The book was bound in leather that was cracked and slightly moldy. If there had been any markings on the cover they had long faded away. Gajeel opened the tome and started flipping through to see what secrets it may hide. As he turned the delicate pages they practically disintegrated under his rough treatment. He immediately dropped the book, causing a cloud of dust to rise, and picked up another that seemed to be in slightly better condition, treating this one more gently. 

The books appeared to be had written journals or notes. The language used was the same that was found throughout the temple. The ink was faded and difficult to read in the dim light. Gajeel skimmed over the first book, looking for anything to jump out at him. After a few pages he put it down and looked at another, repeating the process with equal careful handling.

Each tome seemed to be centered around a different dragon and the activity involved with them. The first several Gajeel looked through were detailing the abilities of the dragon and known sightings of them, attempting to track them. At some point in each book there was mention of a human seen with the dragon and suspected to be a Dragon-Slayer in training. Each book ended in the same way, dragon and Slayer were eliminated. His anger grew with each book he looked at. Each of the dragons had been taken down by Acnologia and after, the cult had gone in and taken down the grieving Dragon-Slayer. The cult wasn’t necessarily working with the black dragon, but they had taken advantage of the situation.

As he looked around he found the record of Igneel and Natsu. The book was as old as all the others. It was less detailed with a lot more assumptions about the pairs movements. It was shorter than the rest and in the end it stated that both had gone missing and it was assumed Igneel was dead. Gajeel didn’t understand what he was looking at. The book was old, much older than he or Natsu were. Perplexed, he set the book aside and the questions it raised. One question being, who else might he find information on laying around. Gajeel turned back to the other piles of books, now searching with a purpose. 

It took a long time for Gajeel to find everything he was looking for. Nearly an hour later he was sitting with four books piled up next to him and a fifth in his hands. He had found Rouge, Sting, Wendy, and his own books along with Natsu’s. There was varying amounts of information on each dragon/slayer pair and they all ended the same way so far. He was currently nose deep in his own record, carefully reading over everything. It was slow going, but he was determined to find out everything they knew about his father and himself.

Levy was in the other room with the men. During this time, Adare and Luke had fully woken up and caught the group up on what was going on. Jet and Dominic were still asleep but looking better with each passing moment. Levy was sitting with Jet, his head in her lap and a hand on his chest while they talked. The gentle rise and fall of his breathing was comforting to her.

“We were getting ready to head back when we found this chamber. We thought another day or two wouldn’t hurt anything. I mean, look at this place!” Adare exclaimed while gesturing around himself excitedly. “It is really fascinating. The people here were looking to try and eradicate dragon kind. It all makes sense now when you think about it.” 

He turned his attention to Levy, giving her an expectant look like he thought she would agree with him. When she didn’t immediately support him he continued with his explanation. “I always wondered why dragon worshipers would build underground. The Dragonoph people were in fact terrified of dragons, Acnologia in particular. Down here they would be safe from a dragon attack on the surface.”

Adare was addressing Levy as if she had never gone missing and they had spoken last a few weeks ago, not years. Knowing the man as well as she did it was quite possible he didn’t realize the amount of time that had passed or was simply too excited about his most recent find to care. Luke was constantly watching Levy like he was worried she would disappear if he looked away. He was sitting next to his brother, as worried about him as she was.

“Me and dad had been in that back room a few times without any issues. We got a little distracted with our work, I had just finally cracked the language and we were translating one of the many texts in there. When Dominic came to get us, that’s when the room filled with some sort of gas,” Luke explained to them.

“It was a trap that is triggered by magic. Dominic must have activated it when he went in,” Droy said. He was working on making some soup in the makeshift kitchen the Windsor’s had set up. He didn’t think it would be safe for the men to eat anything more than that.

“Dom is a wizard?” Levy asked. When she had last seen the kid he was just a normal kid with no interest in learning magic.

“Archive and Beast magic. It comes in handy at times,” Luke told her. He let out a heavy sigh before smiling at her. “I’m so happy you’re back. I missed you so much, Levy.” Something in his tone of voice made Levy blush and look away. 

“There will be time to catch up later. Levy let me tell you about what we found. There is a whole armory with weapons for fighting magic creatures. There are trophies too. Dragon bones, the skulls of babies, egg shells they turned into jewelry. It really is incredible, you just have to see it. The sheer number of dragons taken down by these people, ordinary humans, it really is unbelievable.” Adare was clearly excited, talking rapidly, his hands moving around the room. 

“It would be unwise to allow Gajeel to see that. I’m sure it would not sit well with him,” Lily remarked as he shook his head. He was sitting on the table with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I would pay to see metal butts face,” A weak, raspy voice said from the ground beside Levy.

“Jet!” Levy threw herself on top of his body, overjoyed that he was awake. She felt his arms wrap weakly around her and he chuckled softly.

“Maybe I should face death more often,” He whispered in her ear.

She shook her head and hugged him tighter. “Don’t ever do that again. I don’t think I could take it.” 

Jet sat up and shifted Levy to be sitting in his lap. She kept her arms around his neck, not ready to be moved away from him yet. Jet wasn’t in a hurry to move her either. “I thought I lost you and after everything … I’m sorry Jet,” Levy whispered tearfully in his ear.

“We can talk later, alone,” Jet said and Levy nodded. She moved out of his lap and went to check on Dominic. “How is Dom doing?”

“I think he is waking up,” Luke answered. Dominic was starting to making groaning noises. Adare was still talking excitedly about their findings, not aware that no one was paying him any attention besides maybe Lily. Dominic was slower to come around, but by the time soup was ready he was awake as well.

Dominic didn’t say anything to Levy, but he did keep looking at her. She couldn’t help staring at him herself. He had changed significantly from his childhood. He was on the shorter side, only about a head taller than Levy, a bit shorter than Droy. He was built similar to Jet and in truth, Levy could admit that he was attractive. It was still weird to her to think about this being the little boy she use to teach languages too. 

Dusting himself off, Gajeel rose to rejoined the group, the smell of food getting his attention. He had only managed to get half way into his reading about his father and it had yet to answer any of his questions. He had stashed it and the other slayers book in a pile of badly damaged and discarded tomes. He planned to tuck them into his bag while the other were busy. He didn’t know what they meant yet and until he did, he felt like it was something that should be kept among him and his fellow slayers. After everyone had eaten, it was agreed upon that they should head back to the surface. At the very least to let Mrs. Windsor know they were alive. Gajeel made sure to grab his treasures before they left.

The three Windsor’s were weak from being in stasis for so long. From what they could gather they had been asleep for four days in total. Gajeel, Droy, and Jet helped the three men walk. Even with the help they had to stop multiple times for the men to rest. It was a long trip back, filled with Adare’s rambling about what they had found in the temple. It all made Gajeel’s stomach turn. The most confusing part was the insistence from Adare that the temple was four hundred years old and had not been used in over three hundred.

When they reached the surface, they were surprised to find it was the middle of the night. Being trapped underground, they had lost track of time. With no other choice, the group settled in for the night. Gajeel had more than enough socializing for one day and headed into the forest, finding a tree he could sleep in while still in sight of the camp. Lily flew up and settled in the branch just above the one Gajeel was sleeping on.

-0-

Gajeel could feel the sun warmed metal under his hands and between his legs. The warm early summer wind blew his hair around him. Flying was such a freeing feeling. He could understand why his father loved the air so much, Gajeel loved it as well. He could feel the strong muscles moving as Metalicana’s wings beat to keep them airborne. The rise and fall of the massive body under him as they sailed along the air currents. This is what he loved about being the son of a dragon.

Metalicana was flying fast today. His body tense as he raced towards the unknown. Gajeel could feel the fear and rage emanating from his father, but he didn’t dare ask why. He knew he would find out when they arrived where ever they were going. Metalicana was a dragon of few words and most of those were sarcastic at best. The tension he felt though made him nervous. Gajeel readied himself for a fight.

It was the low growl from his father that drew Gajeel’s eyes to the ground under them. The mountain range they had been flying alongside suddenly gave way to a crater. The trees, the grass, the very dirt had been scorched and blackened. Gajeel felt his jaw drop as he looked at the destruction. The ground was still smoldering in places. This was a battleground between dragons and it had happened recently.

Metalicana circled around the site for close to five minutes before he started his descent. Both he and Gajeel had been watching the area, scenting the air, looking for signs that the dragons whom had caused this might still be around. Only once Metalicana thought it was safe did he head for land. He knew who had caused this destruction, the same person who was hunting all their kind and while he was not afraid to fight the monster, he would not risk Gajeel’s life so carelessly.

As they approached the ground, Gajeel spotted something white in all the black. As they got closer to what started out as a large, shapeless mass grew and grew until, finally, it was larger than Metalicana by the time they landed. The massive dragon before them had been one of the oldest among all dragon kind. Gajeel knew this dragon, was friends with him. Almost before Metalicana was fully grounded, Gajeel was off his back and running to the downed dragon. In his soul he knew it was already too late.

The dragon was a yellowed, off white color. His body was covered in massive plates that looked like bones. His head was protected by a second skull that laid over the scaled skin. One of his wings had been ripped off and the other laid draped over his body. The bones of his wings were barely covered with a translucent membrane that was currently stained with blood. Gajeel could smell the blood and early stench of rot and decay already starting to set in. The ground was sticky as he walked and when he looked down it was coated in the dragon’s congealed blood. As he got closer, he could see the gash to the abdomen just hidden by the wing and forearm. Gajeel didn’t have to look to know that was the death blow, he couldn’t look. 

“Brother …” The word was carried on the wind to Gajeel’s ears. The pain in his father’s voice was nearly enough to bring him to his knees. Gajeel had no family besides Metalicana, he could not even imagine the pain of losing someone so dear. The thundering roar that filled the air brought tears to Gajeel’s eyes. The grief, the pain, the loss that was being expressed by the normally stoic dragon pulled at Gajeel’s heart. 

Over the sound of his father’s morning, Gajeel heard someone scream before quickly quieting themselves. A jolt of hope hit him as he began to search for the origin of the scream. Tucked between the two forelimbs of the dead dragon was a little girl. She was curled against the chest of the dragon. Her clothes were dirty and she was covered in blood that all smelt old to Gajeel. She had long dark blue hair that was matted in more blood and stuck to her back. She was two or three years younger than Gajeel, making her about ten years old. He recognized her right away.

“Bones? Don’t worry. It’s just us,” He spoke calmly, the girl flinched before looking up at him. She had beautiful eyes, the color of amethyst. He watched as fear was slowly replaced by recognition in them. Suddenly Gajeel was thrown onto his back when she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around him.

“Gajeel!” Bones clung to him, sobbing into his chest. “Papa …”

Gajeel ignored the fact he was now as equally covered in dragon’s blood as she was, and wrapped his arms around the scared girl. “Bones, what happened?”

She didn’t answer him, she couldn’t think about it. She just shook her head and tried to bury herself in closer to him. Gajeel didn’t push the issue. He moved them to be sitting against the dragon that had been her caretaker, her father just as Metalicana was his. He tucked them in under the creatures chin with Bones in his lap, arms tightly wrapped around her. That was how he sat for hours as the only two other living things in the area mourned the loss of their family member.

The sun was starting to set when Metalicana called them over. “Come children, we must leave, it’s not safe here.”

Bones refused to move and Gajeel had to carry her. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and arms around his shoulders. Her body shook with silent sobs. Her tears had long since run dry. He got them situated on Metalicana’s back and they took to the sky. They did not head towards home, however, they headed deep into the mountains.

They traveled most of the night. Bones had long since passed out by the time Metalicana finally landed halfway up a mountain. He almost shoved Gajeel and Bones into a small cave there. It was much too small for any dragon to fit. “Watch after the girl.”

“Where are you going?” Gajeel asked. He didn’t get an answer as he watched his father fly away.

Two days later, Bones still wasn’t talking to him. Metalicana had been gone the rest of the night and most of the next day. When he returned, he refused to tell Gajeel what was going on, telling him it wasn’t anything to concern himself with. Gajeel did know that he had returned to the battle site because he handed Bones a necklace with one of her father’s fangs attached to a cord made of his father’s iron. Bones now wore that around her neck as she sat at the mouth to their little cave.

“What you thinking about?” Gajeel asked her. 

“I’m all alone,” Bones said in a hollow voice. It was the first words she had spoken since they found her.

“What am I? Scrap metal?” Gajeel asked. Bones gave him a confused look. “I’m here with ya, and I ain’t going anywhere.”

“Promise?” She asked, some hope lighting her eyes.

“Promise. You’re family. You’re stuck with me and Metalicana now,” He said, yelping in surprise when Bones threw herself at him. He put his arms around her in an awkward hug but his arms met nothing. When he looked down at her, his arms were empty. Bones had disappeared.

“Bones! Bones!” He called for her but there was no answer. He turned to his father for help only to be greeted by a fading image of his father. 

“No! Metalicana!” The image slowly faded into nothing. “No! Father!”

Gajeel jolted awake calling for his father. He was breathing hard as he woke from his nightmare. Looking around, he saw that everyone was still asleep, including Lily. He jumped down from his perch and tucked his hands into his pockets. He didn’t know what was up with that dream, unsure if it was his imagination or a memory. He walked off into the forest to try and clear his thoughts. He would return before he was missed. Even as he walked, he was haunted by the images of blue hair and large amethyst eyes.


	4. What's wrong with Gajeel

Levy was the last one to join the group for breakfast in the morning, well almost the last one. Gajeel was nowhere to be seen. The rest of the group was gathered at one of the portable tables that had been set up for base came. As Levy approached both Luke and Dom waved her over and made room for her to sit between them. Levy blushed at their excitement but took her seat.

“Where is Gajeel?” Levy asked as Droy handed her a plate.

“He was gone when I woke up,” Lily told her. “Most likely he is wondering around somewhere nearby. He’ll come back when he’s hungry.”

“I hope there isn’t any more booby traps,” Levy muttered mostly to herself. “If he gets stuck he’ll be pissed.”

“If he is stuck somewhere then you can break him out,” Dominic said. His voice was deep and a little rough still from everything they had been through. Levy found it pleasant, making her stomach do a little flip. She was instantly disgusted in herself for finding anything about either boy attractive. “Beauty and brains, you’re a knockout combination.”

“You know she used to change your diapers, right? She’s seen what you got and no one’s interested in it,” Luke teased his brother from Levy’s other side.

“She did not! Besides, Levy is now way closer to my age then to yours,” Dominic shot back.

“Clearly Levy likes more mature men, look at Jet and Gajeel,” Luke pointed out, his tone was calmer and matter-of-fact than the hot-headed Dominic.

Levy covered her face in embarrassment as Jet’s hands shot into the air in a defensive position. “Don’t drag me into your fight,” He said.

“I feel I should point out I’m not dating anyone,” Levy muttered.

“So you’re saying you’re available?” Dominic asked excitedly.

Luke groaned, “You’re hopeless. What makes you think Levy would be interested in you?”

“For starters, I’m actually trying to talk to her and not just staring at her ass all day like some pervert.” Dom shot at his brother.

“What? She has a nice butt. You can’t expect me not to look.” Luke said in a defensive voice.

Levy’s face felt like it was on fire. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on Gajeel,” She muttered as she got up and walked away from the table. It took all her self control to not cover her butt as she walked away and into the forest.

The boys fighting over girls wasn’t anything new. Both spent a lot of time helping their father on his dig sites and hardly ever got to interact with women. On the last dig Adare had brought along a female assistant who ended up sleeping with both brothers. That had been a huge headache. Jet couldn’t really blame the boy’s for their behavior and he couldn’t blame Levy for wanting some space.

Jet became concerned when Levy had not returned after nearly thirty minutes. They were in a relatively safe area, but it was still unusual for Levy to be off on her own for so long. He had noticed her reaction to seeing Dominic and Luke again. It was clear to him that had been a shock to her. He knew that sometimes she forgot about the time she lost and forgot the world that had aged around her. He figured she just needed some time alone to come to terms with the new development in her life. As more time passed however he became more worried, images of her crying alone in the park in Magnolia came to his mind. He didn’t want her to feel alone like that again.

Rising to his feet, Jet politely excused himself from the group, not that anyone noticed, and walked off into the forest in the direction that Levy had gone. It didn’t take long for him to find her sitting on the ground, against a tree. It was a scene painfully similar to the one he had been thinking about. She wasn’t crying, but she looked like she wanted too. Jet didn’t think twice about sitting down next to her and pulling her against his side. Levy was stiff in his arms, but she didn’t push him away.

“I know this must be hard on you. The last time you saw them Luke was just starting to notice girls existed and Dominic was still obsessing over animals,” Jet tried to keep his tone light. “Remember when Dominic hid a frog in his brothers bag and Luke nearly peed himself when it jumped out?”

Levy chuckled lightly and relaxed a little against Jet. “I remember. I also remember Luke convincing Dom he was cursed and he had told him that if he walked on his left foot he would die as pay back.”

“Dominic hopped around on one foot for two days before Adare found out what was going on.” Jet said and they both dissolved into laughter. “Those boys think the world of you. They missed you, were dead set on looking for you,” Jet said when they sobered up.

“I have a hard time accepting that I missed so much. They were just little boys last I saw them. Now they’re full grown men and they …” Levy let her thought trail off.

“They are hitting on you,” Jet finished for her. Levy shivered and unconsciously moved closer to Jet.

“Yeah … I just don’t understand it,” Levy said.

“What’s not to understand? You’re a beautiful, smart, strong, wonderful women. Of course they’re interested in you. A man would have to be dead or gay not to be,” Jet told her.

Levy didn’t feel beautiful, not in the same way her friends were. Her flat chest made her feel boyish and she was the shortest person in the guild besides Wendy. She was smart, but that intimidated most men who didn’t like a girl that knew more than them. She didn’t think of herself as all that strong either. If it wasn’t for Gajeel she wouldn’t have lasted very long on Tenrou Island.

“I think you’re a little biased,” Levy mumbled.

“So what if I am?” Jet countered. “I think you’re amazing Levy. You never let anything stand in your way; never let any problem get you down. You go after what you want and you won't let anything stand in your way. It doesn’t matter how many different ways you have to attack something; you always figure out how to solve the problem. That’s why I love you, ever since we were kids you’ve been someone I can look up to.”

Levy tensed up at Jet’s words and he immediately regretted saying them. He knew she was uncomfortable about his feelings, but he hadn’t been thinking. She had looked so dejected and he just wanted her to see herself like he saw her.

“I’m sorry,” He apologized. “I know things are hard on you right now. I can’t really understand everything you’re dealing with, but I can try to help. I know I kind of messed things up last time, but even with everything that happened, I’m still your friend. I want to help.”

Levy had to take a moment and think about what he was saying. They had both messed things up last time, but she had felt better after talking to him. Jet and Droy were her closest friends. She had tried talking to Droy, but he wanted to act like nothing had happened. He was happy to have Levy back and wanted to ignore everything from when she was gone. Levy couldn’t ignore it though. Things had changed, people had changed, the guild had changed. There was still so much of the past seven years she didn’t know about.

“What happened while we were gone? With the guild, I mean?” Levy asked.

“Well …” Jet sighed and pulled Levy against his side again. He waited for her to relax before he continued. “We didn’t even know anything had happened at first. Everyone was waiting for you to return; we had the celebration all ready to go. Droy and me, we were sure that you would pass and were excited about starting S-Class missions. I remember the two of us were fighting over something stupid when Macao told us the ship hadn’t returned yet. We thought maybe the trials went a little long this year and nothing more.

“It was three days before anyone really started to worry. Wakaba and Macao went to Hargeon to see if anyone knew what was going on. No one had any clues for us. There were plenty of people that saw you leave, but not a single person knew what happened after that. After a week went by we started a search for Tenrou Island. It was slow going seeing the only people with knowledge of its location were missing at the time. We even started searching for Laxus, hoping he could lead us to the island. No one knew at the time that he had been there too.

“Other guilds helped us in the search. Soon rumors started about a black dragon, Acnologia, being seen off the coast of Hargeon. Rumors about him destroying some island,” Jet looked at the ground but not before Levy caught the teary-eyed look on his face. Just the memory caused a hopelessness to fill Jet’s being.

“That’s when things really started to get bad. You were all assumed to be dead. Macao took over as guild master and he tried to keep Fairy Tail together, but without the Master the jobs just weren’t coming in like they used to. Without work people started to leave for other guilds. Fairy Tail became a guild obsessed with finding its lost members.” Jet could hardly stand to look at her. He knew what he would see. He didn’t want to see the pain in her eyes. The same pain he had felt when he couldn’t find her, didn’t know if she were alive or dead.

“When Sabertooth showed up at the first Grand Magic Games they had these two young Dragon-Slayers with them. They wiped the floor with us. They became known as the strongest guild in Fiore and the only guild with Dragon-Slayers now that ours were gone. Fairy Tail became the laughing stock of Fiore. That was when it finally hit us that Laxus wasn’t going to come back. Our last hope of finding the location of Tenrou Island was gone. We never stopped looking, even if some of us lost hope … I lost hope.” Jet couldn’t hide his shame at the confession, the defeat in his voice. The next part of his story was the most shameful, but he needed to get it off his chest.

“Everyone that was left dealt with things in their own way,” he shrugged.” A lot of the guys focused on their training. Sabertooth had become an obsession, it was like if we could somehow beat them, it would bring back everyone we lost. Droy was always one to eat his sorrows away and me …” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Well I took the Cana method of coping,” He gave a humorless laugh. “Booze and sex. I’m not proud of it...I did a lot of things the last seven years I’m not proud of. I had lost the girl of my dreams, I was fighting constantly with Droy, the guild was falling apart, everything was gone and I didn’t handle it well.”

Jet turned slightly so he could look Levy in the eyes. When he next spoke, it was from his heart and emotion filled his voice. “You know I’m crazy about you, Levy. I know I messed things up before. You needed someone to be there for you and I took advantage of that. I can’t express how sorry I am for that, but I’m also hopeful that … maybe … one day we can start over. Maybe one day we can do things the right way. I love you, Levy, and that will never, ever change.” He let out a breath, as if a giant weight had been lifted from his chest.

Levy had this feeling of déjà vu as she looked into Jet’s eyes. She could see he meant every word he said. She could see the pain and shame he felt. He regretted what had happened as well. Levy was trying to remember why it was she always pushed Jet away. It had been because of Droy. She had wanted to avoid fighting between them. That wasn’t something she had to worry about anymore. Droy wasn’t interested in her like that anymore. Maybe she should try things with Jet. Maybe it could work out.

Levy jumped when Jet cupped her cheek with his hand. “What are you thinking so hard about?” He asked.

Levy didn’t know what to say. She could write for days about whatever came into her mind but, when it came to speaking the words out loud she always had trouble. Speaking made everything more real. Spoken words could not be taken back or changed later. Once the words were out of your mouth they were out in the world.

Levy closed her eyes, she needed to think. Why did she have this sudden need to act, to do something even though she didn’t know what it was. It felt like something was pulling at her gut. It demanded that she move, but she didn’t know if that meant closer to Jet or away. She felt her heart racing and breathing became difficult. She was starting to panic and she had no idea why.

 _It’s because of Gajeel._ Her mind told her. It was true. It wasn’t Droy holding her back from Jet anymore, it was Gajeel. If she was ever honest with herself she was in love with Gajeel. Completely, stupidly, in love with him. Gajeel didn’t want her though, he barely tolerated her most of the time.

She might not love Jet the same way she did Gajeel but she did like him and more importantly _he_ loved _her_. She could be happy with Jet. She could see a life with him where they had a home and family. She would be happy in that life.

Levy felt lost and scared, she had ever since Tenrou. She needed the closeness he was offering her. She craved the solid ground he could provide. She felt lost in the world and Jet was her rock in the storm. She cared deeply about him and he could give her everything she needed in her life. That didn’t stop the feeling of guilt. She could feel tears starting to burn the back of her eyes. She couldn’t do this, not again.

Levy didn’t know how it had happened, but while she was falling down the mental rabbit hole she was also kissing Jet. She had no memory of making any move to kiss him. Had he started it? Why was she kissing him back? She couldn’t let this happen, not again.

She gathered the strength to push Jet away from her. She had somehow ended up on her back in the grass with him over top of her. She scrambled to her feet, not able to meet the confused and hurt look Jet was giving her. Levy wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but once her feet were under her again she took off deeper into the forest. She ran away from camp, away from Droy and the Windsor’s, away from Jet even as he shouted for her to stop. She couldn’t stop. She needed to get away, she needed space to think.

Levy ran as fast as she could. She wasn’t looking at where she was going, she didn’t care. She could hear Jet chasing after her. She was well aware that he could catch her in a second if he wanted. He could use his magic to get ahead of her and cut her off. The fact he didn’t meant he wanted _her_ to stop. He was giving her the option to get away even as he tried to stop her. Levy should have watched where she was going, but it was too late. She collided with something solid that grunted. Her momentum had both her and the object crashing to the ground.

 “Oi, watch where you’re going, Squirt!” Gajeel complained as he got to his feet. When he reached down to help her to her feet, he caught the scent of Jet covering her. Scents don’t transfer between people easily and he knew she had to have been in close contact with him for an extended period of time for his scent to be this strong on her. He had to suppress a growl as he pulled Levy into his arms and started nuzzling her.

 “Uh, Gajeel? What are you doing?” Levy asked. She was stiff in his arms, unsure. This behavior was so far outside Gajeel’s norm she didn’t know what to do.

Gajeel knew he was acting weird. He had felt off ever since they arrived at this damn temple. His instincts were in hyper drive and fully focused on Levy. He had been slowly changing ever since he joined Fairy Tail. He figured it had something so do with all the other Dragon-Slayers around. After first meeting Natsu, he had got this urge to … nest, for lack of a better word. It was why he joined Fairy Tail, bought a home in Magnolia, befriended Lily. After that he started getting motion sick, almost as bad as Natsu. Sting had said it was a sign of a true Dragon-Slayer. That it meant he was coming into his power. Lately he had been feeling a bloodlust when around Jet, something he fought against, refused to give into. When he was around Levy … he didn’t want to focus on what he was feeling for her. Right now he _had_ to get the scent of Jet off her.

Gajeel sensed when Jet got close. His eyes snapped up to glare at the other man. A low growl emanated from him. Levy tried to push Gajeel away as she felt the warning that was vibrating in his chest, but his hold was like iron.

“Would you get off her? It’s clear she doesn’t want you touching her!” Jet snapped at him as he came closer, unable to hear the warning Gajeel was giving.

“I’m not the one she was running from.” Gajeel’s voice was deeper than normal, a low predatory rumble.

“I think you need to just let her go, Gajeel.” There was a hint of warning in his voice even as Jet was trying his best to take a reasonable tone with him. He could sense that something was wrong and was worried that Gajeel might accidently hurt Levy.

 “I think you need to take a hint. She don’t want what you’re offering.” Gajeel moved Levy behind him. She took the opportunity to take a few steps away from him.

“Gajeel, Jet, just stop.” She pleaded with them. This whole situation was already so confusing to her. The last thing she needed at the moment was the two of them fighting. She was already fighting with herself enough.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with you. This is between me and Levy.” Jet moved closer to Gajeel.

“Look, you got your one fuck out of her. Clearly she didn’t enjoy it as much as ya think. Why don’t you just move on already,” Gajeel snapped at him. Both Jet and Levy gasped in surprise at his words, Levy covered her mouth.

“You told him!” Jet shot at her, having to lean around Gajeel to see her. “Of course you fucking told him. You two are best fucking buds now!”

“I didn’t …” Levy denied Jet’s accusations.

“Shorty didn’t need to tell me. I could smell the stink on you.” Gajeel wasn’t going to address how angry he had been at the time. He could pinpoint the moment his hate for Jet started. When he entered the guild smelling of sex and Levy and she had vanished for three days. “You should leave her the hell alone. Unless you’re into forcing women to do what you want.”

“Ha!” Jet barked in fake laughter. “That’s rich coming from the man that beat the shit out of Lucy for the enjoyment of it after bolting Levy to a tree. You’re the last person that should be giving advice on how to treat women.”

Jet didn’t even see the Iron Club that hit him in the gut and threw him into a tree. It was the first hit Gajeel had landed on him since the day they met, and Gajeel had only gotten stronger. Jet barely caught his breath before Gajeel was attacking him again. It took everything Jet had to keep one step ahead of the attacks.

“Gajeel! Stop, please!” Levy shouted, but even as she tried she knew her plea was falling on deaf ears. The man before her right now wasn’t her friend. This was the man he had been when he was with Phantom, this was Kurogane.

The fighting became more intense as time went on. Gajeel was using a combination of his Iron Club and Iron Sword techniques to keep Jet on his toes. He was cutting down or knocking over every nearby tree. The sound of the fight must have carried to the camp, because Droy and Lily both showed up.

“Levy? What’s going on? Why are they fighting now?” Droy asked, taking in the destruction around them.  He was panting as he tried to catch his breath after running to the newly created clearing. He had been worried that she was in danger and ran as fast as he could.

 “I don’t know. Gajeel is acting different. I don’t understand what is going on.” Levy told them honestly.

“I’ll stop this.” Panther Lily said, turning into his battle form ready to join the fight.

“Don’t Lily! I mean it, Gajeel isn’t himself. He might hurt you.” Levy grabbed the Exceed’s arm to stop him.

“What about Jet? He might kill him.” Droy pointed out. Levy didn’t have an answer for that. She just bit her lip and watched the fight before her.

Gajeel had taken on his Iron Shadow Dragon appearance. The field was littered with the remains of trees, making it hard for Jet to move. Soon he was going to run out of open ground and have to face the beast in front of him. He didn’t have long to worry about that as Gajeel dissolved into shadow. Jet searched around frantically for where Gajeel might have gone, but it was no use. Jet didn’t even see the arm that came out of the shadow at his feet and yanked him to the ground. In the blink of an eye he had the snarling Dragon-Slayer on top of him.

“Forfeit” Gajeel rumbled in Jet’s ear. His clawed hand was wrapped tightly around the smaller man's neck, claws just breaking the skin. Gajeel could smell the fear coming off Jet. The sour smell was almost enough to make him purr. This was what Gajeel had enjoyed the most when he was with Phantom. The moment his pray knew they were caught, but still tried to fight. Watching the hope slowly die in their eyes, just like what was happening with Jet as he slowly tightened his hold.

Jet fought, kicked, punched, anything to get the much larger man off him, but it was all futile. Gajeel didn’t even flinch as Jet beat on him. He could hear the others shouting at him, but he didn’t even bother to make out the individual words. He was fully focused on his captured enemy, his competition.

“Forfeit or die.” Gajeel did purr as Jet’s fear shot up even higher. His heart was beating loud enough for Gajeel to hear. He could feel the rapid pulse ponding beneath his claws. A large part of him hoped that Jet would keep fighting. He wanted this man's blood, wanted to watch the light fade from his eyes. The only thing stopping him was the much smaller part of his brain reminding him that Levy was watching and she would hate him if he followed through with what he craved.

“You win, just get off me!” Jet barely wheezed out, giving up his struggle.

Instead of calming Gajeel, the words seemed to ignite his bloodlust even further. His hand tightened involuntarily around Jet’s throat, crushing his windpipe so he couldn’t breathe. Gajeel felt Lily grab his shoulders, trying to pull him off Jet. Gajeel grabbed him with his free arm and easily tossed him away like a ragdoll. The only thing Gajeel heard was the frantic beating of Jet’s heart as he fought anew. His fear turning into pure panic as he fought for his life. The man clawed at the hand holding him, but Gajeel’s metal scales made his fight pointless.

“Gajeel, stop, your killing him!” Levy’s words somehow reached him. They were choked out through her tears. “This isn’t you. You’re not this man anymore. Please, stop!”

Gajeel suddenly released his hold on Jet. The man didn’t give Gajeel even a split second to think before he wiggled out from under the large slayer and bolted across the clearing beside a worried Droy and Levy. He was rubbing his neck and gasping for much needed air.

Gajeel dug his claws into the dirt as he struggled to catch his own breath. His body felt like it was surrounded by fire, bugs were crawling under his skin. His senses were sharper, stronger than ever before, but he was fully focused on one thing. His eyes shot up to Levy, pinning her with his gaze. She was over a hundred feet away, but he could hear her racing heart, her ragged breathing. He could smell the salt of her tears mixed with her scent of old books and jasmine. Under that he could smell _her_ fear. He scared her and for some reason that excited him. A burning need started in him and grew stronger as her scent washed over him. His fangs were aching and his eyes found the pulse point on her neck. He could picture himself sinking his fangs in there, could almost taste her blood. He could almost feel how the iron in it would feed his power.  The need was so great it was almost shocking.

Gajeel had to tear his eyes away from Levy before he acted on his impulses. He had never had the desire to taste someone’s blood before. What was wrong with him? He needed to get out of here, far away from people, but he didn’t trust himself to move. Every cell in his body was screaming at him to go to Levy. His need for her was undeniable, primal, out of his control. If he moved a single muscle he would lose himself. He would be on her in a heartbeat and nothing would stop him from having her.

“Lily …” Gajeel called out to his friend, hoping he was alright and would be able to understand what he needed. Luckily, almost before the word was out Lily was lifting Gajeel high into the air. Lily was still in his battle form and it was a good thing. The higher he took Gajeel, the more the man fought him. It felt like Gajeel was having his soul ripped from his body. Lily had the advantage in the air but it still took all this strength to hold onto Gajeel.

Lily took Gajeel far away from the others. The clearing he had created faded from view. Lily didn’t stop flying until Gajeel stopped fighting him and went limp in his arms. It was at that point he found a river and laid Gajeel down on the bank. He immediately took his smaller form to be less of a threat to his friend.

Gajeel was coated in sweat and was trembling furiously. He went from being on fire to drenched in ice. Each of his nerve endings were screaming in agony. His head was swimming as his senses continued to assault him. He rolled over onto his hands and knees as his stomach violently expelled its contents. He could still smell Jet and Levy on his clothes. Only a whiff of it made his body seize up in anger and need. He had never experienced such strongly conflicting desires. He pulled himself to the stream and laid down on his back in the water. He let the icy mountain current wash away the scents clinging to him and numb his body.

“What’s wrong, Gajeel?” Lily asked, perching himself on a nearby rock.

Gajeel didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. He had no idea what the fuck was wrong with him. His body was still assaulting him. The river sounded louder than a dragon's roar, drowning out almost everything else around him. He could smell every living creature that had passed by this spot for the last few hours, something that shouldn’t be possible. His muscles ached like he had gone ten rounds with Laxus, not one with Jet. His head felt like it was going to explode and he was fighting a nearly overwhelming possessive need to get back to Levy. He had absolutely no idea what the fuck was going on.


	5. Mates?

Levy was worried about Gajeel, she had never seen him act like that. The look he had given her before he left was going to haunt her nightmares for a while. She didn’t have time to worry about that right now however, she had to handle Jet. His neck was already starting to bruise and his breathing sounded wheezy. The front of his shirt was already soaked in blood from Gajeel’s claws.

“Let me take a look.” Levy said to Jet. Her hands were trembling as she pulled off his shirt. His chest was bruised and it was possible he had a few cracked ribs from Gajeel’s first attack. Levy saw him wince as he bent to help her remove the clothing. He tried to hide it but she saw and it started her tears anew.

“Shh, I’m okay. He wasn’t even trying to hurt me.” Jet’s voice was raspy, giving away the clear lie he was telling. He gently wiped away her tears before taking her hands and holding them tight in his.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault.” Levy said.

“Don’t say that.” Jet quickly reprimanded her.

“Yeah, Gajeel is the one that should be sorry.” Droy added.

Jet wrapped his arms around Levy and pulled her tight against him, ignoring the pain the movement caused. For all the bickering and fighting between the two men it was clear now that Gajeel had never been truly trying to hurt Jet in the past. The moment he had put effort into it he had shattered a few ribs. Jet could feel it with every breath he took.

Droy rubbed Levy’s back as she cried into Jet’s chest. It took her a minute to get herself back together. Once she had stopped her tears she used Jet’s shirt to wipe the blood from his neck and look at the wounds there. He had five punctures from Gajeel’s claws that were slowly oozing blood.

“Let’s get you back to camp so I can take care of those.” Levy said, speaking softly. Jet and Droy didn’t argue, walking back to the camp with her. Jet was holding Levy’s hand and she didn’t stop him. Droy hovered around her, keeping a hand on her shoulder in a show of support.

Levy was lost in her own thoughts for most of the walk. She had gotten herself stuck between a rock and a hard place, or a rock and an Iron Dragon-Slayer. When Gajeel first joined Fairy Tail she had been afraid of him but in time she had overcome that and started a friendship with him. During the Grand Magic Games she had realized she was crushing on him, hard. Gajeel had always been rough around the edges and a difficult man on the best of days, but today was something different. She had thought he had changed since joining the guild but maybe it had all been an act. Maybe he was the guy who took pleasure from hurting other. Maybe nothing had changed since he left Phantom.

Her eyes went over Jet, taking in his injuries. His neck was an unsettling purple color that was streaked with red from the oozing claw marks. You could see the circle imprint in his chest starting to color from where Gajeel had hit him. His breathing was shallow and still sounded wheezy. He was putting on a brave face but she could see the pained look pulling at his eyes. She saw how his breath caught each time he moved to fast or wiped the blood from his neck. He was in a lot of pain and was trying to hide it so she wouldn’t feel guilty.

Gajeel had been out for blood and more. Levy wasn’t sure what had stopped him, just grateful he had stopped. As she thought over the fight and the events leading up to it, she noticed something. Jet hadn’t fought back. There had been no point when he had tried to hit back. He had only avoided Gajeel. Even when he was pinned he had only been trying to get free, not trying to hurt Gajeel. She had almost lost Jet twice in two days and it made her feel … strange.

Levy hadn’t noticed that she had stopped walking. She was lost in her own thoughts. Jet and Droy both stopped to watch her. They had both known her long enough to be able to read her facial expressions. Something was worrying Levy but with the events of the last twenty-four hours it was hard to know what exactly it was. She was standing with her arms hugged around herself, chewing on her lower lip. Her eyes kept moving over Jet’s bare chest and up to his face before quickly looking away. Jet would think she was checking him out if not for the concern etched into her face.

“I’ll meet you in camp. Make sure they have a first aid kit.” Droy told them. It was clear to him that his two friends needed a moment alone. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew something was going on between them and that somehow Gajeel was involved. He wasn’t jealous, he wanted Levy to be happy. He didn’t care who she was with as long as she was happy.

Jet waited until Droy was out of sight and hopefully earshot before he approached Levy. “What are you thinking about, Levy?”

Levy slowly looked up to meet his eyes. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Jet was startled by her answer. He smiled at her and tried to laugh it off. “Don’t be silly, I’m not going anywhere. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

“You almost died, twice. This is serious Jet.” Levy snapped at him. Jet sobered up immediately.

“It’s part of the job. It could happen to any of us. It could have just as easy of been Droy that triggered that trap. As for what just happened …” He shrugged and winced slightly at the movement. “I was asking for it, really.”

“Why are you defending him?” Levy didn’t understand. Jet and Gajeel hated each other. This was the perfect chance for Jet to say, ‘I told you so’. Why didn’t he?

“Because you like him. I don’t know why and I honestly can’t stand it, but I know it’s true.” Jet looked to be in more pain now than he had during the entire fright. It felt like a punch to Levy’s gut and there was an uncomfortable tightness in her heart.

“How did you …” Levy thought she was being careful with her feelings for Gajeel, not even Lucy knew how she felt about him.

“I’ve known you for most of your life, Levy. I can tell when you’re interested in a guy. I just never thought you would be the bad boy type.” Jet couldn’t keep the venom out of his words and they stung Levy.

“I didn’t think I was either.” Levy admitted, mostly to herself. She was looking at Jet’s feet, arms tightly holding herself. She was fighting the urge to run and hide again. She felt conflicted and sick to her stomach. She heard his exasperated sigh and flinched like he hit her.

“I guess you can’t really help who you love. I just had really been hoping it could have been me.” Jet didn’t sound angry or even disappointed, he sounded defeated.

“I do love you.” Levy said quickly, head snapping up to look him in the eyes. There was a look of disbelief there but as the words came pouring out of her mouth she knew they were true.

“I love you, Jet. I like Gajeel too. It’s possible for one person to have feelings for two people. It should be clear by now that there is more than friendship between us. There is something here.” She motioned between the two of them. “I don’t know what but I’ve watched you nearly die twice now and I don’t know what I would do if you really did die and this was left hanging between us. I want to explore this but when I do, Gajeel pops into my head and I can’t stop thinking about how I’m hurting him.”

Levy was frustrated and it showed in her rapid speech, her hands flying everywhere. She was even pacing in a small circle. Her brain was running at a million miles a minute and it only was confusing her more. Her eyes were burning with frustrated tears and she vaguely thought about how she had cried more in the past twenty-four hours than she could ever remember crying in her life. A pair of strong arms stopped her pacing.

“Shut off that beautiful brain of yours for just one minute and think with your heart. Don’t worry about others just do what feels right.” Jet made her look him in the eyes as he spoke.

She felt safe looking into those eyes. His black eyes were always so calm. They had the slightest bit of a sparkle in them anytime he looked at her. Levy could get lost in his eyes. They had never looked at her with hate or disgust, only love, desire. Jet was safe, comfortable, reliable. She loved Jet and she knew when she looked into the future he would always be there, by her side, no matter what.

She stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his. She was quickly becoming use to the feel of him. She knew the softness of his lip, the way they moved against hers. Even this new aspect of their relationship was becoming … comfortable. As her lips slanted against his, she was still thinking about Gajeel in the back of her mind. She couldn’t help but worry about it, but she made up her mind. She was going to try things with Jet and she would just have to push Gajeel from her mind.

She walked the rest of the way back to camp hand in hand with Jet. The man was overjoyed and his good mood was contagious enough that Levy was smiling too. She tried to push away thoughts about the fight or worried about what had happened to Gajeel. The one thing she was having trouble ignoring was the pit in her stomach. She did love Jet, he was a good, caring, supportive man. That didn’t stop her from feeling like she had made a huge mistake.

Levy wasn’t sure what Droy had told the Windsor’s, but no questions were asked when she arrive at camp with a bruised, broken, bloody Jet. Droy was waiting for them with the first aid kit. He set to work cleaning Jet’s wounds while Levy wrapped his broken ribs. Jet couldn’t keep the smile off his face even with the pain caused from treating his injuries.

“Adare talked to his wife. Jessica was very grateful we found them. He wants to stay for two more weeks and work on exploring some new areas of the temple. Jessica asked if we wouldn’t mind staying to keep an eye on her boys.” Droy told them as he bandaged his friend.

Two weeks of full access to the temple. Levy’s mind swarmed with all the information she could learn. These were normal humans that hunted and killed dragons. There might be information that could help take down Acnologia. Not to mention is was a chance to explore the Dragonoph language. In two weeks she could become fluent in it and then just think of what she could learn, it was a once in a life time opportunity.

“I know that look. Might as well call Mira and let her know we will be staying a while.” Jet said, a hint of laughter in his voice. Levy blushed, she thought she had been hiding her excitement. She wasn’t going to deny that she wanted to stay. Her eyes went over to Gajeel and Lily’s bags. She wondered what had happened to them.

-0-

Gajeel laid in the water for over an hour. He only got out once he could no longer control his shivering. It was a nice, warm day but the water was ice cold. He had some time to think while he had been in the water, Lily watching over him like a worried parent. He figured whatever had just happened had something to do with his dragon magic and the dragon soul inside him. The next logical conclusion was he would have to talk to one of the other slayers about it. That was where things became complicated.

Gajeel knew of six other slayers besides himself. One was a guy he had only heard about during the Eclipse Gate incident and subsequent battle. Clearly he had no chance of hunting them down to talk with them. Laxus was the oldest slayer but he wasn’t raised by a dragon and often came to Gajeel with questions of his own. Laxus wasn’t going to know anything. Natsu was … well … yeah, he wasn’t going to ask Natsu with help blowing his noise, let alone anything this weird. Wendy was twelve, there was no way in hell he was going to ask her about why he had a sudden _need_ to fuck Levy. Nope, never going to happen. That only left him with one choice, Sting and Rogue.

The twin slayers of Sabertooth were the last people he wanted to go to for help, but they were his last option. Rogue was a decent enough person, had a dark side Gajeel already had to kick back into place twice, but he had a good heart. Sting was the real reason Gajeel didn’t want to talk to them. The kid was almost as hyper as Natsu and couldn’t keep a secret to save his soul. Having been both raised by dragons and having lacrima’s implanted into their bodies meant they both felt the pull of their dragon stronger than any of the other slayers. The more Gajeel had thought about it the better a visit to Sabertooth sounded. Not that he was happy about it.

Lily looked up from his spot on his rock when Gajeel got out of the stream. His friend was taking off his soaked clothes to ring the water out of them. “Are you done freaking out now?”

Gajeel scuffed at him. “Yeah, I’m done.”

Lily flew over and landed next to Gajeel. “Good, then we can get back to the others and you can explain this all to everyone.”

“Nope.” Gajeel tossed his damp shirt over his shoulder, leaving his pants to dry on his body.

“No?” Lily gave him a questioning look.

“You can head back to them if ya want, but I’m heading to Sabertooth.” Gajeel told him. Gajeel didn’t actually know where he was but he knew the way they had flown and that the town was somewhere north of their location so he started walking in that direction.

“Why are we going to Sabertooth?” Lily asked. Gajeel didn’t answer him. Lily flew alongside him for several minutes asking questions he got no answer to. “Do you want to tell me why you were fighting Jet? What happened at the river? What do you plan to do at Sabertooth? Do you think Rogue will know what’s going on with you? Is this a dragon thing? Does this have anything to do with Levy?”

Gajeel growled at him. “If you’re not going to be useful you can go back to camp with the others.”

Lily smiled to himself. So it did have something to do with Levy. At least that was something. “How could I be of assistance?”

“You could get us back to town sometime before nightfall.” Gajeel grumbled at him. Lily had just been waiting for Gajeel to ask, and while that wasn’t technically asking it was the closet he could get with the mood the man was in. Lily grabbed ahold of Gajeel and took to the sky, heading to town a lot faster than they had on foot.

By the time they made it back to town it was already dark. It was at this point Gajeel realized they didn’t have their packs, which meant no food, no clothes, no cash. Luckily Gajeel knew the inn keeper and wasn’t half bad to poker. By the time morning came he had the jewel needed to cover the train fare to Sabertooth and get some breakfast. Gajeel hadn’t been able to sleep at all that night, images of Levy permeating his brain every time he closed his eyes and not a single one was rated PG13.

Gajeel always knew he had an attraction to the little script mage but it had never been like this. He couldn’t think about her without getting hard, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Everything seemed to remind him of her all of a sudden and the need to get back to her was stronger than ever. More than once during the night he had caught himself already half way to the door, planning on heading back to that temple, back to Levy. He had never felt a need to be with someone like this and he didn’t like it, not one bit.

Gajeel was actually thankful for the motion sickness on the train. It gave him something else to think about besides Levy. That being said, he was still glad to be on solid ground again even if it meant he was standing in front of the Sabertooth guildhall. He could already hear the commotion coming from inside and was starting to get a headache. How Sting could handle running such a noisy guild he would never understand.

Gajeel wasn’t surprised by the controlled chaos that greeted them when he and Lily walked in. It looked as if they were celebrating something. Their party was just as wild as any held by Fairy Tail except there wasn’t any fighting … yet. There was a number of people wearing swimsuits and moving in and out from a back door to the bar. Apparently Fairy’s weren’t the only ones that liked to swim. Gajeel looked around for a familiar face. His gaze finally landed on a girl with short white hair dressed in a white dress with blue accents and a blue flower hair pin.

“Hey, you! You’re friends with Bunny Girl!” Gajeel shouted at her as he walked right at her, leaving no question who he was talking too.

Yukino looked around nervously, hoping he might be talking about someone else as she took a step back from his approaching form.

“Aye! Where do you think you’re going?” Gajeel said, rushing to cut off her retreat.

“Excuse him, he has been having a few rough days.” Lily said, floating between Gajeel and Yukino, trying to look unintimidating.

Yukino’s look of fear faded as she recognized Lily and then Gajeel. “You two are from Fairy Tail. I remember seeing you during the games.”

“I’m Panther Lily and this brute is Gajeel.” Lily said, Gajeel huffed at his introduction.

“What are two Fairy Tail wizards doing here?” Yukino asked before her cheeks turned pink, realizing how rude that sounded. “Not that you aren’t welcome here. I just meant what brings you here?”

“I’m looking for Ryos. Have you seen him?” Gajeel asked, still looking around.

Yukino looked at him, confused again. “There’s no one in the guild by that name.”

“He means Rogue. Could you tell us where him or Sting would be, please?” Lily said, trying to be the diplomatic one. They may be on friendly terms with Sabertooth now but they were still visiting a rival guild. It didn’t hurt to be on ones best behavior.

“Oh, well Sting is most likely in the pool. I believe Rogue was working in the guild library.” She pointed to a door to their left. Gajeel made a bee line for that door.

“Thank you very much, Ms. Yukino.” Lily said, bowing to her before following after Gajeel.

Sabertooth’s library was much smaller than Fairy Tail’s. It didn’t come as much of a surprise seeing the only member of their guild that liked reading had an eidetic memory so there wasn’t much need for keeping books around. Rogue was currently sitting in a chair with a book in one hand, his other was stroking Frosch’s head. The green cat was wearing it’s typical pink frog outfit while Rogue was reading a children’s book.

“Man, this is so sweet I might puke.” Gajeel said when he saw them. He was honestly happy he found Panther Lily and didn’t end up with a juvenile Exceed like Frosch or Happy.

“Gajeel, what brings you here?” Rogue asked, putting the book down.

“If Gajeel feels sick he should lay down, right Rogue?” Frosch said, waving to Gajeel and Lily.

“I’m not allowed to visit?” Gajeel joked.

“Of course you can, but it’s not like you to visit without a reason.” Rogue pointed out.

“Does attacking ones friends without reason count?” Lily asked. He knew they would play this back and forth game all day if he didn’t say anything.

“I had my reasons!” Gajeel said.

“Oh, such as?” Lily asked.

Gajeel glared at him. “He was getting too cozy with Levy.” Gajeel tried to sound dignified even with his pathetic reasoning.

“He was getting cozy?” Rogue asked with a raised an eyebrow at him. “With Levy? Who is Levy?”

“A guild mate.” Gajeel said like it was no big deal.

“You attacked a friend for getting ‘cozy’ with a guild mate?” Rogue questioned.

“I wouldn’t call him a friend.” Gajeel grumbled. Rogue only raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not accepting that expiation.

“Come on Rogue, there’s a party going on out here!” Stings voice announced his arrival before he walked in the door. He was wearing only a pair of white swim trunks with a towel around his shoulders. There was some type of black tattoo poking out under the towel that Gajeel couldn’t make out, nor did he care to try.

“Rogue was reading me a story.” Frosch said as the frog dressed Exceed ran over to Sting. “Look who came to visit!”

Sting hadn’t missed Gajeel in the room. Their eyes met and neither said anything. While the two weren’t exactly enemies anymore Sting still had a hard time trusting Gajeel. The other man knew something about Rogue that he had failed to share with Sting, something that even Rogue couldn’t remember.

“What are you doing here?” Lector demanded. A little brown cat yelling at the towering Dragon-Slayer was almost comical. “We don’t want you here.”

“He came for … advice. I actually think Sting may be the best one to answer his questions.” Rogue said, trying to be diplomatic.

“Like hell I’m talking to him.” Gajeel snapped.

“Then you are free to leave. I’m sure you remember the way.” Sting told him, walking over to Rogue and placing his hands on the still seated man’s shoulders. Rogue leaned back into Sting in a moved of practiced comfort.

“Fine, let’s go, Lily.” Gajeel said, turning to the door.

“You can go, Gajeel. I’m going to hear them out.” Lily said, not moving an inch from his spot.

“What?!” Gajeel shouted in disbelief. “You really think they can help?”

“Gajeel, you have been moody, short tempered, and an all-around jerk for weeks now. And for me to comment you know it has to be bad. You have now attacked a teammate for, in your own words, getting cozy with Levy. He is her best friend and I don’t see how who she chooses to be close to is any reason for you to attempt to kill them.” Gajeel opened his mouth to argue with Lily, but the Exceed wasn’t having it. “That’s exactly what you almost did, Gajeel. You’ve now been sick for days for no reason. You know something is wrong and even you suspect it has to do with your magic or you wouldn’t have dragged us out here. Now you can leave if you want, but I’m getting answers.”

Gajeel was glaring at Lily, attempting to murder his friend with just a look because he didn’t have a real argument. When Sting burst into laughter Gajeel turned his murderous look onto him. “What the hell are you laughing at?”

“Did Gajeel really go and pick himself a mate? I never thought that would happen.” Sting was doubled over in laughter, struggling to get the words out.

“Mate?” Lily asked, looking at the three Dragon-Slayers for an explanation. Sting was still trying to control his laughter and Rogue appeared to be blushing. Gajeel had a horrified look on his face as the word seemed to have triggered a memory.

Gajeel had just returned from a trip into a human village for supplies and was now sitting in the sun with Metalicana. Gajeel wasn’t around other humans very often and something he saw in the village had interested him. “Do you have a wife?” He asked his father figure.

“Marriage is a human concept.” Metalicana answered him.

“Then how do you have children?” Gajeel questioned.

“With sex. It is the same for almost every species on the planet.” The dragon was already sounding exasperated with his ward. He hated the quizzical nature of human children.

“I thought children were born from love.” Gajeel continued.

“Another human concept.” Metalicana grumbled.

“Do dragons not love?”

Metalicana heaved a sigh large enough to blow the branches of nearby trees. “Dragons can and do love. Some even choose to spend large portions of their lives with a partner they mark as their mate. A stupid decision that weakens all dragon kin in my option.” The dragon rose to his feet then. “We must continue your training.”

“Human’s don’t have mates. Mating is a dragon concept.” Gajeel said in much the same exasperated voice Metalicana would use.

“A dragon and Dragon-Slayer concept.” Sting said, sobering up. He pulled off the towel over his shoulders to fully show off the mark there. Draped over his shoulders was the wings of a black dragon, the head of which was along his right collarbone near his neck. The body of the dragon took up most of his upper back.

“Sting was the first Dragon-Slayer to take a mate.” Lector said, like it was something to be proud of.

“Sting loves Rogue.” Frosch added in helpfully, causing the latter man to blush and pick the cat up.

Both Gajeel and Lily looked severely confused. Gajeel kept looking between the two younger slayers trying to understand what exactly was going on.

“You need to explain things, Sting.” Rogue said. “You were the one in Gajeel’s position after all.”

Sting gave an overly bright, slightly cocky grin. “Apparently back during the games when I attacked Jiemma for hurting Rogue and Lector, then saved his ass from the dragons and his future self, it triggered a mating ritual of sorts.”

“You make it sound like I was weak and defenseless. I remember saving you a few times as well.” Rogue chimed in but Sting just waved him off.

“Went through much the same thing you’re dealing with. I was moody, couldn’t sleep, didn’t eat, being away from Rogue made me ill. Took just over a week of misery before a gave in to my instincts and pinned Rogue to the wall in my office. Man, you want to talk about –“

“And that’s all Gajeel needs to hear I think.” Rogue said, cutting Sting off before he could get into the details of the act of mating. He had his hands over Frosch’s ears, protecting the young Exceed from hearing anything inappropriate.

Gajeel actually looked a little green, unable to avoid the mental images from forming. “I don’t think I needed to hear any of that.”

“I placed my mark that day and Rogue placed his a few days later.” Sting pulled down the high collar of Rogues shirt to show the head of a white dragon against his skin. Rogue smacked his hand away.

“So you mean to say the two of you are …” Lily tried to find the right word but couldn’t think of one. He was having trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that the two men might be in a romantic relationship.

“Mated.” Rogue supplied.

“Or you could think of it like married.” Sting offered.

It took Gajeel a good ten seconds to fully digest what he was being told. Once he did he quickly decided that he did not like it, at all. “Lily, we’re leaving.” He snapped.

“Wait, Gajeel, there’s more we have to tell you.” Rogue said, he was up and across the room trying to stop Gajeel from leaving.

Gajeel pulled away violently when Rogue tried to touch him. He wasn’t sure why he was reacting so strongly to the information that had been presented to him. For some reason he felt like Rogue had betrayed him somehow. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact he was gay or that he was in a relationship with Sting, but it was something Gajeel didn’t want to face at that moment. He ignored the hurt look on Rogues face as he pushed past him and out the door. Lily muttered an apology before he followed after him.

“Why is Gajeel leaving? We didn’t even get to play.” Frosch said, looking sadly at the door.

“Because he is a close-minded jerk.” Lector said. “We don’t want him around here anyways.”


	6. Enter the Cobra

Cobra was sitting alone in his cell. It wasn’t so bad when he thought about it. It was quiet, the most quiet he had had in his life. So quiet it was maddening at times. But the outside world was so loud. The brief freedom he had been allowed, to fight against the dragons, real dragons, had reminded him why he choose to be in this cell. All the voices, the thoughts and souls of all the people of Crocus, it just wasn’t a world he was meant to live in anymore. The only saving grace was he had been allowed to hear that voice again. Her voice. Cubellios.

He had heard her voice again and she was safe. He did not know why she was in Crocus but he was thankful she had been. She was the reason he had returned to this cell. He would gladly hand over his freedom a hundred times over to keep her safe. His only regret was that he would never get to know her as the human she had become. He would never get to see her again. Of course, that was probably for the best. He would bring her nothing but trouble.

Cobra heard the intruder long before they reached his cell. He didn’t recognize the soul but he knew they weren’t sent by the magic counsel, they only ever sent the same two men and only if they needed a favor from him. Cobra wasn’t allowed human contact of any kind unless it was on _their_ terms. The intruder, a woman judging by her scent, stayed in the shadows on his blinded side. He sat on the floor with his eye closed and arms crossed, listening to her thoughts.

 _He’s cuter than I thought he would be. A lot of heavy protection needed to hold him too. He should work out wonderfully for my plans._ The women might as well have been broadcasting her thoughts right into his ears. She had gone through a lot of trouble to track him down considering she seemed to be so ill informed about his magic. No need for him to broadcast that to her though.

“Are you going to just stand there or are you going to tell me why you’re interrupting my quiet time?” Cobra asked. He smirked at her quick intake of breath. He had startled her, good.

“How did you know I was here?” Her voice was silky smooth, it had a strange calming effect on him.

“Dragon-Slayer sense of smell, same as you.” Cobra could smell the faint reptilian scent that clung to all the Dragon-Slayers coming off her, hers was stronger than most.

 _He’s observant, good._ The women thought before responding out loud. “I have an offer for you.”

“Not interested.” Cobra still was pointedly not looking at the women.

“You don’t know what I have to offer yet.” She took a step forward so she was just hidden by the shadows. “I have information on someone very near and dear to your heart.” _I know you’ll do anything to protect that stupid girl._

Years of practice came into play, allowing Cobra to appear unaffected by her words. Inside he was seething. If she did anything to hurt Cubellios it would be the last thing she ever did. “Whoever you got your information from is wrong. I don’t care about anybody but myself.”

“Oh, not even a little purple haired girl that was cursed into the body of a snake?” She had that sickly sweet, false confusion tone down to an art. “I believed you called her Cubellios.” _We can do this the easy way, or I can bring you the body of your love._

Cobra snarled and launched himself at the bars of his cell. His poisoned claws lashed out but were still feet from being able to reach the shadow cloaked figure. “Don’t you dare hurt her!”

“So you _can_ hear peoples thoughts.” He could hear the smirk in her voice. He cursed himself, only just now realizing she had been testing him. “You’re just what I need.”

“Tell me where Cubellios is.” Cobra demanded.

“I don’t know where she is. But I know who does, Fairy Tail.” She was laughing at him, he could hear it in her voice and in her head. She knew she had the leverage she needed over him.

“Then it sounds like you have nothing to offer me.” He moved back away from the cell bars.

“I can offer you freedom and access to Fairy Tail mages. In exchange I want your help in subduing and questioning them.” The women told him.

“And what stops me from killing you as soon as I get out of here?” Cobra asked, already planning on doing just that.

“Oh, I have my ways of dealing with men.” She cooed. As she spoke a new scent filled the small room. It had the sweet floral scent of belladonna mixed with the bitter almonds scent of cyanide the final underlying tone being that of lavender. The scent washed over Cobra like a drug. His entire being relaxed and he felt like he was floating. _Is this what it feels like to be high?_ He wondered, not that he would know, he couldn’t get high.

“Will you help me, Erik?” The women asked. She was soft spoken and her words went over him like a caress. He was practically purring as he nodded at her. He would do whatever she wanted as long as he could continue to feel like this.

 _That’s right, my pet, you’re all mine now._ She thought as she opened his cell door. Her plan was coming along just as she expected.

-0-

Gajeel’s stomach was tied in knots as they arrived in Magnolia and it wasn’t just from the train ride. Everything Sting and Rogue had told him was rattling around inside his head. He had questions, a lot of questions, but had been to freaked out to listen to them. He wasn’t sure why the idea of Sting and Rogue together … romantically together made his stomach queasy, but it did. It had fully taken his mind off Dragonoph temple and all the questions he still had from that. He had almost pushed Levy from his mind also, at least he had until they arrived in Magnolia.

Gajeel wasn’t _scared_ of seeing Levy. He wasn’t _avoiding_ the guildhall on the off chance her or Jet might be there. He certainly wasn’t _worried_ about what they might have told people. That Natsu or Wendy might recognize what his behavior meant and tell everyone. That his feelings for Levy would be exposed to the entire guild. That the master might kick him out for attacking Jet and he would be back on the streets with nothing and no one. The fact he had just insulted the only person in Earthland that would take him in all over the person he chose to love meaning he would be left completely alone and probably end up in some dark guild again having to hurt people and losing any chance he ever had with Levy. None of that even entered his mind … more than a hundred times.

Gajeel took the cowards way out and headed right for his house when they got into town. He only had to half lie about feeling like shit and needing sleep. The home was a small one-bedroom single story building one the edge of town. He intentionally bought a place on the opposite side of town from Natsu. It was a longer walk to the guild and train station but it was worth it to avoid the risk of running into the pyro accidentally. The place was mostly decorated in the dark woods and bright colors that Lily preferred. Gajeel didn’t much care, he was rarely home and if he was it was only to sleep.

The bedroom was Gajeel’s sanctuary and where he headed first on walking in the door. The walls were a muted silver color. The furniture was the same heavy dark wood as the rest of the home but Gajeel had added his own touches of iron work. There wasn’t a thing in the room that didn’t have a touch of iron on it somewhere and the metal scent filled the air. Even the bed had a large iron sculpture on the wall behind it of a dragon. Gajeel had spent days working on it, trying his best to make it appear as his father had. The bed was piled high with pillows and overly fluffy blankets. Nesting, it was a thing.

 Sting had said it was about a week before he gave into his dragon urges and laid his mark on Rogue. Gajeel figured that just meant he had to avoid Levy for a least that long. If he was lucky his magic would get it’s butt in gear and drop the whole issue. It had already been four-day, four horrific day, but he would tough it out. If he was exceedingly lucky the guild would forget all about everything Jet and Levy told them by the time he reemerged and he could move on with his life like nothing had happened.

Two weeks, two weeks of the worst hell Gajeel had ever been through. If it wasn’t for Lily he probably wouldn’t have made it past the third day. Every part of his being craved to be with Levy. His every thought was filled with her, he dreamed of hunting her down and placing his mark. Hunting her down, tracking her, it appealed to his dragon side almost as strongly as the thought of claiming her did. Lily had to stop him nearly every other day from leaving to find her. He was an asshole, aggressive, accused Lily more than once of stealing Levy from him. He wasn’t himself at all. If he wasn’t obsessing over Levy he was convinced that Jet was the one keeping her from him, that Jet had to be dealt with.

Lily had to get him black out drunk more than once to deal with him. Gajeel really owed the Exceed a lot. He wasn’t sure how he would make things up to his friend but he knew he would find a way, somehow. Thankfully, sixteen long days after his fight with Jet, it seemed the mating urge was gone.

Okay, gone was a strong word. Gajeel still missed Levy, there was an ache in his chest when he thought about her. It didn’t feel any different than it had before their last job though. He was more aware of it, more aware of how he felt, but he didn’t think this had anything to do with mating and was just caused by his own feelings. He missed Levy. He missed her scent and her laugh. He missed watching her chew on her light pen while reading a good book. He missed the way her eyes lit up when she smiled. He could admit all of that to himself now but, like hell he was going to admit it to anyone besides Lily.

Gajeel decided he was going to have to face the music and go to the guildhall at some point. If for no other reason than the fact he was never paid for helping save the archeologists and had a mortgage that needed to be paid. Luckily no one even seemed to notice when he walked in. He headed right over to the request board and started looking for a job.

“It’s about time you showed up.” Mira appeared out of thin air at Gajeel’s side. He nearly jumped ten feet in the air, his nerves a little on edge at the moment.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that, Devil Women!” Gajeel shouted at her.

Mira gave an overly cute giggle as she patted his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to scare you. The master has been looking for you. He said he needs to talk to you as soon as you got back.”

Gajeel and Lily exchanged worried looks. They had both hoped that maybe, just this once, the masters relaxed and forgiving nature would work in their benefit. Gajeel was never that lucky.

“Has Levy been by recently?” Lily asked conversationally.

“Yeah, Shadowgear has already left on another job. She told us all about what happened. It’s really cute, I didn’t know you were so soft.” Mira said, giving Gajeel a knowing smile. “She did leave your bags with me, I’ll give them to you after you talk with the Master.”

“I ain’t cute. Or soft.” Gajeel grumbled at her. All he earned was another of her giggles in return. He didn’t see Makarov at his normal spot at the bar so he figured the man must be in his office working on paper work for once. That was fine for Gajeel, he didn’t need an audience to his excommunication.

He followed Lily upstairs and to the masters office. The door was shut so he knocked, getting a muttered “Come in” before he opened the door and walked in. There was a large desk in the center of the room with piles of papers on it. More papers littered the floor around the room. Everything from job request to damage reports, reimbursement requests, even a summons from the magic counsel. Gajeel was a little impressed that anything seemed to get done around here with this mess.

Makarov was standing on his desk, looking worriedly over some papers when Gajeel walked in. He looked up and gave a clearly forced smile when he saw them. “Gajeel, good, come in and sit down my boy.”

Lily and Gajeel shared another look, this time of confusion as they sat in the chairs across from the desk. Makarov didn’t seem angry or disappointed in him. If anything the old man looked a little relieved to see Gajeel.

“You wanted to speak to us?” Lily asked.

“Yes. I’m glad to see you have made it back to Magnolia safely.” Makarov walked to the edge of his desk and sat there with his feet dangling over the edge. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. Understand, this isn’t something I ever wanted for you, Gajeel.”

Gajeel huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just get it over with, old man. I can handle it.”

“I need you help with Ivan.” Makarov told him. Both Gajeel and Lily’s jaws dropped in surprise. This was not what they had expected. Makarov misinterpreted the reason for their stun silence and continued to explain. “Lately some of our members have been injured while working distant jobs. In the past week two have failed to return. Warren and Laki are both overdue to return. Normally I wouldn’t worry so but with the recent attacks …”

“You think Raven Tail is involved?” Gajeel said. Being a onetime spy against Raven Tail it made sense that Makarov would come to him again to gather intelligence on his son.

“I thought they were ordered to disband after what happened during the games.” Lily pointed out.

Gajeel gave a fake chuckle. “They were a dark guild long before the games. They only became official to ruffle a few Fairy wings and get information. They only half way succeeded. No, this stinks of Raven Tail.”

“I can’t go after Ivan myself but I cannot let attacks on my children go unanswered.” Makarov said, looking at Gajeel.

“Yeah, yeah, I got you. Need me to go in all stealthy like and remind him why he shouldn’t mess with Fairy Tail. I know a couple places he might be hiding. Shouldn’t take me to long, might even be fun.” Gajeel got up and cracked his knuckles before heading to the door.

“Gajeel,” Makarov called after him. “Don’t forget …”

“If I get caught, you knew nothing about this. Yeah, I know.” Gajeel waved over his shoulder as he walked out of the office, Lily scrambled to catch up. Fairy Tail like to act like they were some holier than thou guild but Gajeel knew the truth. They had their dark secrets and Makarov had no qualms about using Gajeel as his personal attack dog to keep those secrets. They weren’t much different than Phantom Lord in that regard.

Gajeel went right over to the bar to collect his and Lily’s bags from Mira. He was itching for a fight and eager to get started tracking Raven Tail down. He didn’t particularly like Warren, man was annoying on the best of day, and Laki talked weird, but he wasn’t so cold hearted to leave them at the mercy of Ivan. Man was twisted enough to want his own son dead, no telling what he would do to them.

“Mira, what did Levy tell you happened on our last job?” Gajeel asked, reaching behind the bar to grab their bags and the bag of scrap iron she kept there for him. He had hardly eaten in the last two weeks and was starving.

“Oh, just about how you heard about a dragon sighting and rushed off to see if it was Metalicana. She said you were so excited you left without your things.” Mira smiled at him as he shoved a handful of scraps into his mouth to keep from shouting at her, again. “You try to play the tough guy but you really care about your dragon just as much as Natsu.”

“The only thing I care about is beating his ass for disappearing on me.” Gajeel argued.

Mira giggled at him again. “You wouldn’t be angry if you didn’t care about him.”

Gajeel just grumbled and turned to leave. Lily floated over the top of the bar. “We are going to be leaving town for a little while, Mira, would you mind …”

“Packing you some kiwi’s to go?” She asked, pulling a prepared bag out from under the bar. “Master already told me. There’s also a new hand-held communication lacrima in here. Master wants you to stay in touch.”

Lily took the bag before bowing his head to her. “Thank you, Mira.”

“Come on, Lily! We don’t have all day!” Gajeel shouted from where he was waiting by the guildhall doors. Lily quickly thanked Mira again before rushing off to join Gajeel.

-0-

Team Shadowgear spent a week at the Dragonoph temple before they returned to Magnolia. In truth Levy would have been happy to stay even longer but Droy had to point out the Gajeel had not returned for his things and they needed to get a paying job. Sometimes Levy could get a little absorbed into her work and forget about things like that. But how often did one get a chance to learn about an extinct culture and species like this.

Once Jet had made it clear that Levy was his girl working with Luke and Dominic had become easier. Levy didn’t necessarily like the fact that Jet was laying claim to her like you would a sandwich, but at least the two men had stopped hitting on her. They were now the perfect assistance to her and Adare. Adare working on cataloging the artifacts with Luke while Dominic and Levy worked on the piles of text.

Dominic preferred to copy the text into his archive where he could work on it without having to worry about damaging the original pieces. Levy could admit his approach had its merits but she preferred to have the real thing in front of her, feel the history in her hands. Also, if she worked with the archive it ment she had to be close to Dom which then ment that Jet was hovering around and being all types of annoying.

Jet was Levy’s best friend and she told herself she had to give time for them to adjust to this new relationship, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be annoyed by him. He wasn’t doing anything overly crazy and Levy knew she was being irrational, but she really just needed some damn space. This wasn’t the first time they had stayed on site to help with translations and normally Jet and Droy would run things at camp and basically make sure everyone remembered about basic human needs like food and bathing. Droy was a wonderful camp helper. Jet, on the other hand, seemed to have fully focused on caring for Levy and no one else.

Jet would bring her food and water at different points during the day. This would normally be sweet if he hadn’t nearly ruined a very important an old tome Levy had been working on when he spilled the water he brought her. From what she could tell it was the oldest surviving piece of writing in the temple, over four hundred and fifty years old, and he had been inches away from destroying it. Than the food he would bring was probably the least practical things one could think of, forcing Levy to stop her work and eat just so he would leave her alone. Jet tried to argue that she could work and eat at the same time, but one did _not_ eat a sandwich and handle four-hundred-year-old parchment at the same time. She almost strangled him for making the suggestion. The only thing that saved him was the bruises still visible on his neck.

Part of Levy wondered if she was just pity dating Jet. She just had to remind herself it wasn’t pity, she really truly did like Jet, really, truly. Another part accused her of doing it just to make Gajeel jealous. That was a cray idea, of course … Gajeel was already jealous. This really just wasn’t the best situation for judging how a relationship would work, she reminded herself. They would know more once they were back to Magnolia.

Leaving for Magnolia had been difficult. Levy was close to a breakthrough on something important, she was sure of it. The Dragonoph people had this image of dragons as stupid, violent, evil creatures. Levy knew that wasn’t completely true basic on what Natsu and Wendy said about their parent dragons. She had seen the cruel, violent side of dragons but from what she figured they were as different as humans. Some good, some evil, most somewhere in the middle. But, because the Dragonoph didn’t see them as more than animals Levy felt they were missing a huge part of dragon social structures. They had years and years of detailed information on the movement of hundreds of dragons and Levy was just starting to connect them together. There was something there, she knew it.

Her work had fully driven Gajeel from her thoughts … mostly driven Gajeel from her thoughts. The marks on Jet’s neck had fully faded by the time they headed home. Jet had wanted to tell Makarov what happened, only Levy begging him not to had stopped him. She could tell he didn’t like that she was protecting Gajeel, but then again they both knew Levy had feeling for Gajeel just as she did for Jet. This caused a certain amount of tension on their return to Magnolia, luckily it appeared that Gajeel and Lily had yet to return, no one had seen them anyways.

They waiting around Magnolia for three days for Gajeel to return. In that time Levy was still obsessing over her note, trying to understand what she believed to be a complicated social structure of dragons. The whole guild had been floored the first time Jet brought her a plate of food and kissed her cheek. She was immediately pulled away from her work by Cana and Lucy who demanded she answer their questions.

“When did this happen?” Lucy asked.

“How could you not tell us?” Cana added.

“What about Gajeel?”

“Have you had sex yet?”

“How is Droy handling this?”

“Is he good in bed? I think he would be.”

Levy’s head was spinning at the onslaught of questions. Her face was burning red at Cana’s questions and Lucy’s questions were like a sucker punch to that ball of guilt she carried with her.

“To answer your questions, Lu-Lu, we have kind of been dancing around this since we got back. It only became official on this last job. Droy is supportive and happy for us. And what about Gajeel?” Levy couldn’t even look her friends in the eyes as she tried to deflect the Gajeel question.

“What do you mean, ‘what about Gajeel?’ I know you’re crazy for him, Levy. You don’t hide it well.” Levy couldn’t even deny Lucy’s accusation as her face became even hotter.

“Jet’s hot an all Levy, but we know you really want some iron in your diet. Please tell me you at least go to sample some of that before hooking tall, flirty and fast over there.” Cana said, openly looking around Levy to check out Jet.

“Cana!” Levy shouted as she cover her face. She didn’t think she could be more embarrassed.

“Poor Gajeel must be heartbroken. To ashamed to show his face around the guild. That’s why he ditched you during the job, isn’t it?” Mira had decided to come over and add to Levy’s humiliation and guilt.

“No …” She said in a small voice, of course a small part of Levy thought that was exactly what happened but she wasn’t going to go into the detail on that.

“Hey, this means Gajeel’s fair game again, right? I totally need to get me some.” Cana said.

“No!” Levy protested and immediately covered her face at the knowing looks all three girls were giving her. This was arguably the worst day of her life and she’s had quite a few bad ones lately.

“And for your information, Gajeel is chasing down a lead on Metalicana.” Levy lied. She looked up and saw Droy holding up a job request flyer behind the interrogation squad. Levy could kiss him. “I’m sorry, but it looks like Droy found a job for us.”

“This isn’t over, girly!” Cana shouted at her back as Levy pushed her way past the girls and over to Droy and Jet. She had never been so relieved to be leaving on a job.

-0-

After three days of chasing down dead ends, Gajeel was frustrated with himself. Not only was he working with seven-year-old intel, it was intel the enemy knew he had. Next time he saw Laxus he needed to kick Sparky’s ass for blowing his cover. Last time he ever put his tail on the line to save the ungrateful prick.

He had already been to five former Raven Tail hideouts near Magnolia. The operative word was former. They had been cleared out long ago. Looked like they had been abandoned for years, probably shortly after Gajeel had gone missing. It was what he would do if his spy suddenly disappeared with the top members of the guild he was spying on. Ok, maybe his cover was blown before Laxus opened his big mouth.

Gajeel was currently at the base of Mount Hakobe about to chase down his most promising lead. He had heard about some members of Raven Tail wanting to set up a lookout in the mountains when he had first started spying for Makarov. There had never been talk about a set location, just a newly forming idea at the time, but that just meant it was a location Gajeel was not supposed to have any information about. That meant it might still exist. It help support this idea was the fact Nullpudding had been spotted several times in the small town at the base of the mountain. The purple, toll looking man did not get misidentified often.

“Look, it’s going to take a few days to chase this lead down. I’ll contact you when I know something.” Gajeel grumbled into the hand-held communication lacrima. Master Makarov was growing increasingly worried about the missing guild members. The fact that Laxus was heading home from his most recent S-Class job wasn’t helping.

“Ivan is being too quiet. I don’t trust him.” Makarov told him.

“Ivan isn’t stupid. He won’t move until he has all the pieces he wants in place. He is still after Laxus. Keep Sparky safe at home until I’m finished. I’ll get a hold of you by the end of the week.” Gajeel repeated this for at least the fifth time during this conversation. He knew Makarov wanted to do an all-out attack on Raven Tail. Not only would that be a stupid move, no one knew where they were headquartered anymore. Gajeel didn’t wait for Makarov to respond before he ended the call and chucked the lacrima into a nearby trash can.

“Are you sure that was wise?” Lily asked, looking at the trash can but making no more to retrieve the lacrima.

“I can’t get anything done with the old man looking over my shoulder.” Gajeel said. Besides, if he did manage to find a member of Raven Tail he would need to use … creative techniques to get information out of them. They were all terrified of Ivan, Gajeel would have to be more terrifying. He didn’t need to have Makarov implicated as an accomplice. That would not end well for Fairy Tail.

Gajeel and Lily spent four days wondering around the mountains. Gajeel found a trail on the second day that had a lot of recent activity and they had been following the thing around in circles since. He had got faint scent trails every now and then that he would recognize as Raven Tail members he had meet at one point or another that gave him hope they were heading the right way.

The sun was starting to set on the fourth day and the two were cold and tired. It was another day of walking in circles in the cold. Only after they had pasted the same cliff face, twice, did Gajeel agree to call it a night and try fresh in the morning. Gajeel hated not being able to track down a target and the cold mountain air only made it harder. The wind blew in all directions and with it came scents from people and animals from miles around. It was confusing him and making his nose unreliable.

Gajeel must have let his guard drop to much in his frustrated exhaustion. It was the only excuse he had for why he didn’t know about the enemy until after they were already surrounded. Two dozen mages came out of the trees as he and Lily were setting up camp.

One got a cheap hit on Lily before either man could react, throwing him back into a snow bank. Gajeel knocked that man out with an Iron Hammer. Lily reappeared from the snow in his battle form, sword ready to go. Gajeel and Lily were a forced to be reckoned with, unfortunately Ivan knew Gajeel’s magic well. There was at least three lightning mages in the group. Gajeel could ground himself but each blast still took a lot out of him and hurt like hell. By the time they were down to a handful of mages, Gajeel and Lily were mostly spent.

“Poison Dragon Roar!” Gajeel heard the shout but when he turned to face the new threat he was hit by a wave of red poison gas. Gajeel collapsed to the ground, he could hear Lily fall victim to the attack as well.

“I told you not to kill him! I want the Iron Slayer alive!” A harsh female voice snapped.

“I just paralyzed them. You’ll be able to have all your fun still.” It was the same man that had attacked them that spoke. There was a note of disgust in his voice. Gajeel tried to move and found the man’s words were true, he was completely paralyzed.

“Time to go to sleep.” The man said seconds before a boot impacted with Gajeel’s skull, knocking him unconscious.


	7. Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is your one and only warning for the rest of this story. Things are going to get dark. There will be just about every trigger under the sun. Torture, both physical and emotional. Death of characters and children/babies. PTSD. Rape. Child abuse. ECT.  
> I don’t always write happy stories. This will come around to a happy ending, I promise, but it is going to be a very rough road for Gajeel getting there.

When Gajeel came to, he was laying on something hard and cold. At first he thought he was still on the snow-covered ground, but the air around him was too warm for him to be outside. He tried to remain relaxed with his eyes closed as he assessed his surroundings.

The room smelled damp. He could smell Panther Lily and knew he was close by. There was the scent of iron in the room and it made his stomach cramp in hunger. _How long have I been out?_ He wondered.

“Almost a full day. About time you came around. Mistress was starting to get impatient.” It was the voice of the man who had paralyzed him, the poison Dragon-Slayer.

Gajeel didn’t realize he had spoken out loud, but seeing his cover was blown he opened his eyes and looked around. He was laying on a metal table, steel, held down by his wrist and ankles with Sealstone restraints. That would explain why he couldn’t access his magic and just shadow himself away. The rest of the room that he could see was just bare, dark walls. Speaking of bare, Gajeel was bare ass naked.

“I don’t know what kind of kinky stuff you’re into, but this really isn’t my thing.” Gajeel said, finally looking at the only other person he could see in the room.

The poison Dragon-Slayer was a dark tanned man with spiky maroon hair. He had a scar over his right eye that was permanently shut. There was another scar on his neck that Gajeel couldn’t make out. His ears were pointed, as were his canines, which showed as he laughed. “I think I’m going to like you.”

“I’m more entertaining when I’m not tied down.” Gajeel pointed out.

“Yeah, I got to see just how entertaining. Unfortunately me and the Mistress have some questions for you.” Gajeel noticed the man glance nervously at the door.

“Where’s Lily?” Gajeel asked, worried about his little friend.

“The cat? Up there.” The man said, pointing to the celling. Gajeel had to crane his neck to look at the celling behind him, he was just able to make out the bottom of what looked like an iron bird cage. “I wanted to just kill him but Mistress thought he would be better as a hostage. Assure your cooperation.”

Gajeel couldn’t suppress his growl. _I’m so kicking your ass when I’m out of here. I swear it._

The man by the door chuckled. His laughter died quickly a moment before the only door to the room opened. Gajeel’s jaw dropped as a woman walked in, the last women he ever expected to see here. _Levy?!_

Levy walked into the room and the man guarding the door took a respectful, or maybe fearful, step back. Levy had cut her hair into the short, wild, choppy layers he had liked when they first meet. She wasn’t wearing her normal boxy orange dress and headband, instead she was hardly dressed at all. She was wearing a sheer bikini top that even Cana wouldn’t be caught dead in. Her floor length skirt was the same sheer material with a slit up one side to her mid-thigh. He could see right through the material and knew she wore nothing underneath.

Her scent flowed into the room, quickly filling the small space. The musky scent of old book, fresh cut jasmine, a hint of lavender and iron. Fuck him, she was wearing iron. His eyes zoned in on a chain around her neck that dipped between her breast, an iron chain.

He closed his eyes and lulled his head back with a groan, hitting it on the table with a thud. He couldn’t control his body’s reaction to Levy’s presence, he couldn’t even try. The combination of her dress, scent, iron and residual mating instinct was all more then he had any hope of fighting. He mentally cursed his own weakness and the fact he couldn’t cover himself. _Could this get any worse?_

Gajeel’s eyes shot open when he felt a finger run up the underside on his erection. Levy was leaning over the table in between his legs. She seemed to be closely examining him. He cursed as she stroked him again, her finger circling around his piercing.

“Fuck, you would think you’ve never seen a naked man before.” He hissed out through clenched teeth.

“I’ve never seen one of these before.” Levy said, her finger circling the piercing again. Her voice had a silken quality to it that sounded foreign to Gajeel’s ears. The change was a little unnerving but he felt his body relaxing at the same time.

“You can explore all ya want when we get back to Magnolia.” Gajeel pulled at the restraints on his wrists. “Want to get me out of here, Shrimp?”

The man next to the door chuckled. Gajeel shot his eyes over to him a second before burning pain cut through his calf. He screamed and attempted to jerk away from whatever had cut him but the restraints just dug into his wrists and ankles.

“Don’t call me that ever again!” Levy snapped at him. Gajeel could feel the warm blood that was oozing out of the cut she had given him. It pooled under his leg, making the table slick.

Gajeel growled at her and tried again to pull away. “What the hell! Crazy bitch.”

“Oh you have no idea.” The poison slayer muttered to himself.

“You made me that way, Gajeel. This is all your doing.” Levy hissed at him. She moved so she was straddling his hips, hands on his chest. “You abandoned me. Left me when I needed you.”

“I’m sorry, I was kind of dealing with my own stuff at the time.” Gajeel told her. “I thought you would be fine.”

“I wouldn’t have said that.” The ever-helpful spectator commented.

“Fine! Fine!” Levy snapped. She drew her arm back like she was going to slap him but she stopped herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “This isn’t about that.” She said, her eyes still closed as she reigned in her temper.

“Then what the hell is going on? Right now it looks like you’re working with Raven Tail.” Gajeel said, trying to ignore the fact her butt was rubbing against his nearly painful erection. _Is she moving like that on purpose?_

Levy leaned down to whisper in Gajeel’s ear. “That’s because I am. You are going to pay for everything you’ve done to me … Kurogane. But first, I’m going to have my fun with you.”

Gajeel opened his mouth to respond but all that came out was a line of curses as Levy impaled herself on him. The sudden move banished the last bit of rational thought from Gajeel’s mind. All that was left was thoughts of Levy and the pleasure that came with her. Months of celibacy and weeks of denying his mating instinct added up to a poor and quick performance on his part. Levy had barely found a rhythm when Gajeel came with an animalistic roar. He lunged forward, intent on sinking his fangs into Levy. Placing his mark. Claiming his mate.

The restraints held him back and dug deep into his skin. The pain was enough to break through the haze of Gajeel’s mind. He felt the cuts in his skin, the blood running down his arms, and Levy. She was still on top of him, still riding him. Her hands were on his chest, supporting her well outside his reach. Her eyes were closed with a look of pure bliss on her face. When Gajeel met her next downward movement her head flew back with a cry of pleasure, her fingers curled and nails dug into his skin.

Each of Gajeel’s thrust caused the cuffs around his ankles to dig in but he didn’t care. Watching the faces Levy made, hearing the moans and cries of pleasure, feeling her heat wrapped around him, it was everything he dreamed it would be. The situation wasn’t ideal but it faded to the back of his mind. The only thing that mattered at the moment was Levy.

Gajeel had two more orgasms, each with the same violent reaction, before Levy finally found her own release. Even after his three orgasms Gajeel still wanted more. Levy was still on top of him, rocking her hips slowly, teasing him. Gajeel thrusted up as hard as he could manage, trying to encourage her to continue moving.

“Please …” Gajeel’s voice sounded rough, his throat sore, as he pleaded. He had been unaware of how loud he had been, the inhuman noises he had been making, or the damage it had done to his voice.

Levy grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulled his head at an uncomfortable angle. She leaned forward so she could whisper in his ear. “Why so eager? Is it because you chose a mate but failed to claim them?”

Gajeel couldn’t form words to answer. The scent of Levy and iron so close made it nearly impossible for him to think. All he could do is whimper and move his hips.

“Don’t worry, we will have more fun later.” Levy whispered, running her tongue around his ear before sitting back. “For now, I’m bored of you. Cobra!”

Gajeel watched as Levy climbed off of him. He twisted his body in an attempt to follow her. He watched as the man by the door, Cobra, approached the them. There was a noticeable bulge in his pants as he had apparently been watching them.

“Yes, Mistress?” Cobra asked, annoyance and frustration clear in his tone.

Gajeel snarled and tried lunging off the table as Levy reached out to stroke Cobra and undo his pants. “Make Kurogane watch.” She purred.

Cobra rolled his eye before he turned Levy and bent her over the table Gajeel was on, laying her across his stomach. Gajeel was helpless to stop anything that happened next.

He fought against his restraints, fought to get to Cobra, to stop him. He felt his dragon overwhelm him and knew if it wasn’t for the magic canceling cuffs he would enter dragon force for the first time. Every part of his being was forced on killing the man who was fucking _his_ mate. The man causing her to claw and bite at his flesh as she screamed in pleasure.

Gajeel wasn’t sure how long this went on. Time had no meaning. He pleaded with them, begged them to stop, offered himself to Levy, anything he could think of. He threw himself at Cobra, pulled against his cuffs, broke bones trying to get free, trying to stop them.

Gajeel didn’t stop his fight until Cobra moved away for a sedated Levy. He couldn’t look at Levy, laying across him, panting and trembling from what Cobra had given her. Something Gajeel had been unable too.

His heart was beyond shattered. The reality of everything that had happened was just starting to sink into his mind. Levy had betrayed him, used him, fucked another man in front of him. His body was numb and refused to watch as Levy got up and walked across the room.

“See he is cleaned up before questioning. You know I hate getting blood on my clothes.” Levy’s words only added to the feeling of dread in Gajeel.

Cobra gave a short answer, “Yes, Mistress.”

Gajeel heard the door open and close, followed by unintelligible muttering from Cobra before he left as well. Satisfied he was alone, Gajeel let down the last crumbling wall of protection he had and let himself cry.

Years Jose had abused him, tried to break him. He had been captured and tortured more times than he would ever admit too. He had lost his birth family, adopted father, his guild, everything he ever cared for at one point or another in his life. This was the first time he had been utterly defeated. The first time he let himself openly cry. For the first time in his life he would rather be dead than face another second of the situation he was in. All of this was caused by, not a gigantic monster or demon, but a single blue haired shrimp.

His body was cold, numb. His heart didn’t so much ache as it felt like an empty chasm. There was nothing he could do but lay there and wait for whatever came next.

“Gajeel?” The quiet uncertain voice startled him.

“Lily? Is that you?” Gajeel asked. Having recognized he voice. He had forgotten that his friend was even there.

“It’s me. Are you all right?”

“Don’t worry about me. Did they hurt you?” Gajeel asked, shaking off his friends worries.

“No, but I am in magic canceling cuffs. There also appears to be a barrier keeping me from leaving this cage.” Lily told him, giving a quick run down of the situation. Gajeel could hear the exceed walking around in the cage, causing it to swing and creek slightly.

“I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.” Gajeel tried to sound confident, something he didn’t feel at all. Lily didn’t answer him and there was a minute of awkward silence between them. “How long have you been awake?”

Lily didn’t answer right away. He wanted to lie, save his friend some embarrassment, but that wasn’t who he was. “I woke up when the women entered the room.”

The shame Gajeel felt was suffocating. Lily had seen everything. The stench of sex was so thick in the air it wouldn’t have been hard of the exceed to figure out but that he had seen it, heard Gajeel pleading. It was something he wanted no one to know about, especially the only person he truly considered a friend.

Before Gajeel could think of a way to respond, to explain himself, the door opened again. Gajeel turned to look at who entered, who was there to torture him now. He was surprised to see a kid walk in.

 It was a boy, maybe nine or ten years old. He had mid-length blond hair with blue tips and purple eyes. It was a strange combination that made him look more feminine than masculine. He was wearing only a pair of torn jeans and carrying a bucket of water. The Raven Tail guild mark was in black on his left shoulder.

The boy covered his noise as he walked over to Gajeel. “Man, you reek. No wonder Cobra didn’t want anything to do with you.”

Gajeel didn’t say anything in response, just turned his head to look at the ceiling. The boy didn’t seem to care and he threw the bucket of water on Gajeel. It was ice cold and Gajeel tensed on instinct which pulled at his cuffs and sent pain shooting through his body. He couldn’t hold back the scream of pain.

“Try not to move to much. You’re just going to make the bleeding worse.” The kid chastised him.  “At least let me get you cleaned up first.”

Gajeel watched as the kid pulled out some towels and started scrubbing Gajeel down. He was surprisingly gentle especially around Gajeel’s injuries. After he was done he wrapped some cloth around Gajeel’s wrists and ankles.

“That won’t stop all the damage you are doing but it will stop you from cutting down to the bone.” He explained as he worked. “You if would only cooperate this wouldn’t be necessary.”

“Do you have any idea who I am?” Gajeel asked. He tested the wrappings. His broken wrists still hurt but it did help.

“Kurogane, Black Steel Gajeel, Iron Dragon Slayer, traitor, you are known by a lot of names around here.” The boy shrugged and dug into his pockets.

“You think I’m the type to cooperate?” Gajeel asked.

“I think you are the type who will do whatever it takes to save his own ass.” The boys held his fist out over Gajeel’s mouth. “Open up.”

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the kid. He could smell iron coming from the kids hand but it had a strange smell to it. He wasn’t about to trust the enemy. The boy waited a full minute before he sighed and took his hand back.

“Go ahead and stave than.” He gathered his things and started to head for the door.

“Wait, kid!” Gajeel called after him. The boy put his bucket down and turned back to Gajeel. “What is your name?”

“They call me Sangre. I’ll see you soon, Traitor.” With that, the boy left.

“I didn’t know Raven Tail had children in the guild.” Lily said once the kid left.

“Yeah, they are just full of surprises today.”

Gajeel didn’t know how long he waited in near complete silence. It could have been hours or minutes. He could hear Lily moving around his cage, most likely looking for a way out. Gajeel knew it would be pointless. Levy was second only to Freed in her enchantments. Even if Lily got free of the sealstone he wouldn’t get free of the cage. There was nothing for Gajeel to do but wait for Levy to return.

When Levy did return it was alone. She had changed her clothes; it was the same style but now in a pink tint. Her scent followed her into the room causing a now predictable reaction in Gajeel. Levy came over and examined the bandaging Sangre had left.

“Boy is getting a little soft. I’m going to need to fix that.” There was a heavy tone of disgust in her voice.

“Please don’t …” Gajeel looked into her eyes to plead for the boys safety but what he saw there stopped him short. He was staring into deep purple eyes the color of amethyst. This wasn’t Levy and the realization hit him like a rampaging Vulcan.

“Don’t what?” Not Levy asked in a sweet tone.

“You’re not her …” Gajeel whispered to himself.

“Not who? Are you saying you don’t even remember me?” There was a momentary look of anger on not Levy’s face before it turned into a smile. “I could help you remember.”

Gajeel closed his eyes, his body tensing as he felt her fingertips run down his chest and abdomen, heading for his erection.

“Why do you smell like her?” Even as he asked the question, Gajeel knew it wasn’t really the case. He had ignored it earlier, the shock of seeing Levy and being held hostage made it seem like a small thing, but she didn’t smell exactly like Levy. There was a hint of lavender that was not part of Levy’s normal scent. At first he thought it could be something she was wearing but now that he focused he could tell it was part of this person’s scent.

“Smell like who? You’re mate I’m guessing. Does it bother you? Make you uncomfortable? You didn’t seem to mind earlier.” Not Levy placed kisses along Gajeel’s jaw as her hand wrapped around him and stroked slowly.

Gajeel hissed and clenched his teeth shut. His body arched into her touch, there wasn’t anything he could do to prevent it.

“You don’t seem to mind now either.” There was humor in her voice. “I feel sorry for your mate. Stuck with someone so easily swayed with some basic pheromones.”

“Please …” He was cut off when she bit his neck.

“I mean, I wasn’t planning this when I walked in, but if you insist.” Gajeel didn’t even get a chance to argue as the women climbed onto the table and straddled his lap once again. The scent of her arousal made his head spin.

“I don’t want this. I don’t want you!” Gajeel snapped at her as he fought to get away.

“Oh? Well this says otherwise.” Not Levy reached behind her to grab ahold of Gajeel’s erection once again. The man froze for a split second but it was all the time she needed to get him inside her.

This time was much different then the first. Gajeel shut down. It took all his self-control to keep his body from participating. Even so, the movement, sensations, the scent of arousal mixed with Levy, he ended up reaching his climax against his own wishes. He once again tried to place his mark even knowing it wasn’t Levy.

Gajeel wished it was only the once that this happened. He felt worse than before, empty, used, like filth, guilty. It wasn’t only the one time, though. Not Levy wouldn’t stop until she was sedated. She rode him through a half dozen of her own orgasms and nearly as many of his. In between he would lay there, refusing to participate but with every climax, like each time before, he tried to place his mark, each time more violently than the last.

When she was finished with him the women curled up into Gajeel’s side, like they were lovers. Gajeel tried to move away from her and when he did he saw something white laying between them. He had almost forgotten about the iron chain not Levy was wearing. It had fallen out of her top and her could see now at the end of the chain was the tip of a dragons fang.

“Bones?” He felt like he had been sucker punched. This was a grown-up Bones. Someone from his past he had completely forgotten about. Someone he wasn’t even sure was real until this moment. It made sense now, all the pieces started to come together. Female dragons used pheromones to attract males during breeding season, was it possible female dragon slayers could as well?

“So you do remember me?” Bones got up and off the table, fixing her necklace as she did.

“Why are you doing this?” Gajeel asked.

Burning pain cut across Gajeel’s chest. He hadn’t even seen Bones move but there was a long cut across his chest that had blood starting to bubble up from it. Bones was standing next to him licking blood from her fingernail. Her nails were now razor-sharp claws made out of bone.

“I’ll be asking the questions. You better give me answers I like.” She warned.

“Yeah, that’s not likely to happen, sweetheart” Gajeel couldn’t help his smart mouth and paid for it with another slash across his chest.

“Where is Laxus currently?” Bones asked. She had taken on a harder, more serious tone then Gajeel had heard yet.

“Tell me where we are and I’ll draw you a map.” Gajeel hissed as the next cut bisected the first two. They were all shallow cuts, only just breaking the skin enough to slowly bleed.

“Where is Laxus?” She asked again.

“Somewhere inside the boarders of Fiore.” Another cut, deeper this time.

“Where is Laxus?”

“Tell Ivan he needs therapy, this obsession is unhealthy.”

This went on for several minutes until Gajeel could barely breathe due to the pain. Each breath caused burning stinging pain to erupt over his skin. He had dozens of crisscrossing marks on his chest and abdomen.

“Where is Laxus?” Bones repeated the question in the same calm voice each time.

“I don’t fucking know! He’s on a job somewhere! The old man wants to keep him far from home!” Gajeel finally snapped. He didn’t even have the information she wanted.

Bones gave him a soft smile. Her hand had been in position to give him another cut to the stomach but she moved it down now to stroke his manhood. A fresh dose of pheromones had Gajeel cursing as he grew hard in her hand.

“Was that so hard? See good boys get rewarded.” She purred as she stoked him slowly.

“I would rather you kill me.” Gajeel said through clenched teeth.

“Who is your mate?” Bones asked, she held the tip of one claw to the base of his penis to assure cooperation.

“Levy” Gajeel said quickly, trying to moved away from the clawed threat.

“Just imagine I’m Levy. It will make this much more enjoyable for both of us.” She returned to her slow teasing.

“Fuck,” Gajeel groaned as she cupped his balls.

“Only if you’re good.” Bones teased. “What type of magic does Levy use?”

“Animal takeover” Gajeel lied. He felt a sharp cut to the inside of his leg.

“What type of magic does Levy use?” Bones asked again. Gajeel could smell her arousal growing, she was getting off on this.

“Solid Script!” He spat at her. He was “rewarded” by her returning to her fondling.

“Does she have a team she works with?”

“Yes, Jet and Droy.” Gajeel said, earning him a grin from Bones.

“Volunteering information already. You are a quick learner.” She removed her skirt before she climbed back into his lap. She wasn’t a fan of this position but if he continued to behave they might be able to explore things with him a little less restrained. She took enjoyment on the guilty look on his face as she lowered herself onto him once again.

“Are you going to tell me what magic they have?” Bones used her muscles to massage Gajeel while inside her all without having to move her body.

“Speed and Green. Both are weak, hardly a threat.” He gasped out. The offer of extra information again netted a larger reward as Bones started riding him.

“Who are the major threats?”

“Mira, Laxus, Erza.” He listed them off quickly.

“Not Natsu, Juvia or any of the others from the Games?” Bones slowed her movements as she waited for an answer.

“Natsu is an idiot. Juvia is a lovesick weakling, you threaten Gray and she will do anything you say and vice versa. Wendy is a child. Elfman is a joke. Mystogan wasn’t even a member of Fairy Tail.” Gajeel’s dislike for his guild mates showed in his voice.

Bones purred in approval. “I think you’ve earned your reward.”

-0-

“Why did you tell her all of that?” Bones had just walked out the door and Lily was already criticizing him. Gajeel was to weak to deal with this.

“If you didn’t notice, I was being cut up like a human steak.” Gajeel snapped.

“So you turn on the guild that quickly?” Lily asked. Gajeel could picture the disappointed look on his face as she stood with his arms crossed.

“Of course not. I didn’t tell her anything she didn’t already know.” Ivan wasn’t stupid. He knew who was in the guild and what their abilities were. This round was just about teaching Gajeel the rules and seeing how willing he was to play along. The more information he gave that they already knew, the more they would believe any lies he told them later.

“I don’t think you are thinking clearly.” Lily said.

“You think I like what she’s doing to me?!” There was a long silence that followed. A part of Lily was questioning, wondering if maybe Gajeel did enjoy it. Gajeel couldn’t really blame him. From where Lily was it looked as if Gajeel was willingly participating, he didn’t know about the pheromones or how disgusting Gajeel felt after every orgasm.

“I know you don’t want to be here. Let’s work on finding a way out.” Lily finally said, avoiding truly answering the question.

They didn’t get much time to talk before Sangre returned to the room. He again had his bucket of water and started to wash the blood of Gajeel.

“Not one to cooperate, huh?” Sangre chuckled as he cleaned the mix of fluids off Gajeel’s legs. “She’ll get you like she gets every Dragon Slayer.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Gajeel asked. He was picking up a faint scent from the kid. He couldn’t be sure but it interested his dragon and if the kid was trying to hide his scent there must be a reason.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here for my own reasons.” Sangre was a little rougher after that with cleaning Gajeel’s wounds. It stung and caused some to bleed anew.

“Now look what you did!” Sangre sounded exacerbated as he threw his towel in the bucket.

“You’re the one rubbing my skin raw!” Gajeel shot back.

“Why are you here, Sangre?” Lily asked, making his presence known to someone other than Gajeel for the first time.

“I’m here cause Mistress takes care of me. The guild is the only family I got.” Sangre answered, going back to his work but more gently this time.

“What happened to your family?” Lily asked.

Sangre shrugged. “Don’t know. Guess they died or something when I was little. Maybe they just abandoned me. It don’t really matter.”

“You don’t want to know what happened to your family?” Gajeel asked.

“No, I don’t! I told you, I have my guild, I don’t need no one else.” Sangre snapped again. It was becoming clear he didn’t care for Gajeel very much. He held his closed fist out over Gajeel’s face again. “Open up.”

Again, Gajeel refused the offer. Sangre only waited a few second this time before removing his hand and packing up his things.

“Sangre, could we get some water to drink? Gajeel is losing a lot of fluids.” Lily said, stopping Sangre just before he left the room.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He said before leaving and slamming the door.

“Why are we being nice to the kid?” Gajeel asked.

“We are going to need help to get out of here. Kid seems like the only choice.” Lily told him.

Lily had a point, just not one Gajeel liked. Neither Cobra or Bones was likely to mess up and give them a chance to get free. Gajeel could work his plan of giving Bones information but who knew how long that would take before she trusted him. That and, honestly, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could tolerate her using his body before he found a way to end it. The padding on his wrist might have looked like a caring gesture but it kept him from being able to slice them open and bleed to death. The easy way out wasn’t going to be that easy.

Sangre was young and impressionable. He had high respect for his guild but Gajeel had felt the same way about Phantom. He knew how to get to the kid. He could talk to him, make him see there is a better option. That meant he would need to get the kid to visit which meant he would need to bleed, often. He wondered if Lily had thought about that.

“As long as you can take it, Gajeel. I think getting that kid back here is a good plan.” Lily said.

_Yeah, as long as I can take being cut up._ He had been through worse in his life. “We’ll keep it as a solid plan B.”

About an hour later plan B moved to plan A when Sangre returned. Not only did he have water for both of them he had gotten bread for Lily. He helped Gajeel drink his water, which surprisingly had iron filings in it. When Gajeel questioned him about it he simply responded with “Keeping you alive is my job” and left it at that.

Gajeel wasn’t sure how long they were left alone after that. He was exhausted and dozed in and out of consciousness. He tried listening for movement on the other side of the door but never heard anything. He tried keeping track of the time but there was no windows in the room. The only light came from lacrima placed around the room.

The peace and quiet wasn’t meant to last and eventually Bones returned with more questions. Like before they were simple questions about who was in the guild and what magic they used. Refusal to answer was punished. Lies were punished more. Honest answers were rewarded. Freely given information was rewarded more.

It didn’t matter what option Gajeel went with, all lead to the same end. This time around he attempted to just not say anything in response to her questions. This meant that his flesh was carved up again. This wasn’t a negative to Bones though, if anything it aroused her more than fondling him did.

He was a complete bloody mess by the time she became frustrated with his lack of cooperation. She forget the questions and fucked him anyways. She was more violent than she had been in the past, biting his flesh and burring her claws in his chest and sides. The pain was blinding and pulled screams from Gajeel’s chest. Even that wasn’t enough to make him soft, in the end it wasn’t even enough to keep him from climaxing. He officially hated himself.

“I suggest you be more forthcoming next time or I’ll move on to the cat.” Bones threatened before leaving the room.

Nothing was said between the two friends. Lily was at a lost for words. What could you say after someone goes through something like that? Gajeel on the other hand wasn’t sure his voice would work if he wanted it too. His throat felt raw and he tasted blood. It could be caused by the amount of blood in the air or from his nearly continuous screams, he wasn’t sure.

It felt like an eternity before Sangre showed his face. Gajeel didn’t even look when he heard the door. He didn’t acknowledge the kid until the washcloth touched his skin and that was only to roar in pain.

“I need to clean you. Mistress doesn’t like blood.” Sangre said in way of apology. Gajeel let out a rough chuckle that he instantly regretted.

“Who do you think did this to him?” Lily asked. He received no answer. “She spent a lot of time making him bleed for not liking blood.”

“She only did that because he wouldn’t answer her questions.” He said in a defensive tone. His handling of Gajeel became rougher, something that seemed to happen if he was upset.

“Fuck!” Gajeel shouted at the new found pain. He was surprised anything could make him hurt worse but apparently he could. “Would you stop pissing him off Lily!”

Gajeel couldn’t see it, but Lily moved back in his cage. It put Gajeel mostly out of his sight. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy but he knew they still had to try.

“We care for our guild as much as you do yours. Would you give away guild secrets?” Lily asked.

“No! Never!” He snapped, pouring the bucket of water over Gajeel to wash most of the blood away.

“Not even if you were being tortured?” Lily asked.

“I would rather die!” Gajeel saw it. The brief moment, the flicker of understanding. For just a second the kid got it and was looking at Gajeel’s wounds in a new light. It only lasted for half a heartbeat but it was there. After that Sangre stormed off, not even offering Gajeel the mystery iron.

Sangre didn’t return after leaving this time. They waited but he never came back. Eventually Gajeel faded off into sleep once again.


	8. Bone's victory

“I’m not a babysitter!” Gajeel was yelling at Metalicana. The dragon had taken him and Bones out early in the morning to a meeting with the other dragons and their slayers. He was now telling Gajeel that he was to watch the other children while the dragons had some sort of meeting.

“I don’t need him to watch me! I want to come with you, Igneel.” The pink haired boy, Natsu, was shouting at the fire dragon king.

“You will do as I say and stay here Natsu. You must set a good example for the young ones.” Igneel told his charge.

The young ones he was talking about was the three other children in the field. Wendy, Sting, and Ryos were all around the age of five. All three were relatively new dragon slayers. Wendy had only been taken in by Grandeeney a year ago. Sting and Ryos were taking in about two years ago by Weisslogia and Skiadrum respectively. Bones and Gajeel had meet all their fellow slayers before but this was the first time they had all been in the same location at once.

“Grendeeney, please don’t leave me!” Wendy cried as she clutched onto her adoptive mothers leg.

Watching the children crying to their dragons and the dragons comforting the children made Bones feel sick. Even Metalicana was being unusually gentle with Gajeel. It all made her heart ache as she thought of everything she had lost. Everyone was so distracted it wasn’t hard for her to sneak away. She walked into the tree line and vanished.

The dragons left their children and gathered in a clearing not far from the kids. It was too dangerous to leave them alone for long. Metalicana had explained to the others what had happened between Acnologia and his brother.

“He knows of our plan. We have to act now.” Skiadrum said after Metalicana’s story.

“We do not know that. Acnologia had been attempting to wipe us all out.” Grandeeney said.

“Why would he leave the child alive if he knew of her existence?” Igneel asked.

“She was hiding in the corpse of my dead brother!” Metalicana snapped. Igneel lowered his head in a move of respect, attempting to show acknowledgement of his pain.

“We are all affected by the loss of Marcium but I will not risk Sting’s safety because of your fear!” Weisslogia snapped, taking a step towards Metalicana.

“And I will not risk Wendy over your stubbornness.” Grendeeney was calm as she spoke but there was an edge to her voice to show she was serious.

Arguments broke out from there. Each dragon was speaking over each other to the point no one could make out what was being said. Weisslogia and Skidrum wanted to wait until they knew Acnologia’s next move before making a decision. Both felt they needed more time to teach their boys. Grendeeney and Metalicana both felt Acnologia was a serious threat and wanted to protect the future.

“Enough!” Igneel roared after several minutes had past. The other dragons quieted down and looked at him. “Metalicana is right. We must act to insure the future is safe.”

“What of the girl? With Marcium dead who will protect her? She will become just like Acnologia.” Weisslogia pointed out.

“We cannot be sure that will happen.” Metalicana didn’t sound like he believed his own words.

“We must get rid of her. Before she can grow.” Skiadrum sided with the white dragon.

“Wendy will need her guidance. If I am not there to teach her, some will have too.” Grendeeney made a plea.

“She is dangerous! What good will come of killing Acnologia if we allow her to live? She will ruin everything.” Weisslogia said.

“I will insure that does not happen. She is my responsibility. I will not allow you to murder the last part of my brother!” Metalicana got into the white dragons face, ready to fight the frail dragon.

“You know the price we will all be paying. You cannot protect both her and Gajeel. Would you sacrifice him to save her?” Igneel asked, earning him a death glare from Metalicana.

“Gajeel will protect her, guild her. We cannot prevent what she will become but we can keep her on our side. She could be the deciding factor in the battle to come.”

“And if she turns against us? Will Gajeel be the one to end her before she becomes a threat?” Igneel asked.

“Yes.” Metalicana’s voice was as cold as the metal he was covered in.

-0-

Bones woke in a cold sweat. She had been dreaming a lot about her past since finding Gajeel. She could remember that day clearly as any other. She had been in the tree line, listening as the dragons spoke about her future without thinking to speak to her. Metalicana’s last word echoed in her head. The dragon would roll over in his grave if he could see things now. Gajeel was her puppet, he couldn’t raise a hand against her let alone end her. She would laugh if the whole thing wasn’t so tragic.

She was alone in the room that functioned as her personal quarters. In one corner there was a small bed and nightstand. She had a few dresses hanging in the closet and a nearly empty dresser against one wall. There was a desk with a communication lacrima set up so she could report into Ivan. She had yet had any reason to use it. She knew he was growing impatient but she didn’t care, she wasn’t doing this to help him.

She ran her hand tenderly over her stomach. She could already feel the lives that were starting to grow there. She already had two children growing in her womb and she hope to soon add a third.

Female dragons would lay large clutches of eggs, into the hundreds at one time. Unmated females would attempt to have eggs fertilized from as many different males as they could manage. This would insure the nest had a number of protectors and because no one male could know which eggs they fathered it prevented them from destroying the eggs before they could hatch. The more men a brood mother could breed with the higher chance her children had of survival.

Things worked a similar way for slayer females. For one month, twice a year, Bones would ovulate every week. This gave her a chance to carry up to four children by four different men. The first of her children belonged to Kurohebi. He wasn’t much of a looker but he was high ranking in the guild and would help boost her own status. The fact he was nearly as sadistic as she was, was an added benefit. Kurohebi’s visits usually ended in bloody sex and at least one dead body. Good fun all around.

The second egg had not taken despite her attempts with a captured Fairy Tail mage. She had been unable to make him to preform like she could Gajeel. They still had him, were holding him in one of the cells. He was a weak telepath mage who was of little use to them but Ivan insisted they keep all the Fairy’s alive. He planned to use them as bargaining chips later on.

The second child was Cobra’s. Her control over him had been slipping. His body was learning how to handle her pheromones and he had broken her hold twice already. She had regained control both times but she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep him. She was going to use his own biological urge to protect his offspring against him. He was already better behaved, able to sense the life within her. She didn’t even attempt to hid the fact she was pregnant with his child from him. He had been angry but compliant since.

She had one more fertile week. One more egg that could give life. She was determined to have Gajeel as the father. She would insure his obedience, solidify her control over him. She wanted him by her side forever and she was more than willing to use a child to insure it. She would have to send the baby away once it was born, of course. Keep the brat far away from Gajeel so he couldn’t run off with it. That was no problem to her. Ivan would reward her greatly for a Dragon-Slayer child.

She smiled as she held her hand over her stomach. Any day now she could conceive Gajeel’s child and once that happened he would finally be hers.

-0-

The “interrogations” continued for Gajeel. The best he could figure was he was getting questioned three times a day, going on how much he was allowed to heal in-between. Sangre would come to clean him once a day according to Gajeel’s schedule. When it wasn’t Sangre it was other members of the guild, other female members. They all took their time cleaning him, feeling his body. Some tried to use the residual effects of Bone’s pheromones to use him like she would. The pheromone’s would fade and he would go soft before they could finish but it didn’t stop them trying or lessen his humiliation.

Things were timed out where Gajeel was not allowed to sleep. He had nothing to eat since Sangre had slipped iron into his water. They were giving him plenty of water, keeping his fluids up and him alive, but no food or sleep. Gajeel no longer spoke when anyone was in the room. He did not answer any questions and took the punishment. He was sliced up more this way, deeper more painful injuries, but it aroused Bones and lead to an ending quicker. It also gave him something else to focus on as she raped him, over and over again.

He had been there maybe four or five days at this point. Everything was becoming routine and, in a way, easier to deal with. He knew what to expect and was able to prepare. The cleaning girls had already been by. His body was dry, wounds starting to close, maybe two hours had passed. Lily was asleep, Gajeel heard his soft snores so it was probably late in the night. Cat had an internal clock that couldn’t be beat. Gajeel didn’t react when he heard the door open. It was time for the next round of questioning.

Gajeel was expecting pheromones, the scent he no longer associated with Levy but with pain and humiliation but was greeted by a sour smell. It was like a mix of reptile and oil and made Gajeel feel nauseous.

“You don’t smell like sunflowers and daisies either.” The voice was rough and it took Gajeel a few seconds to place it. It was the Poison Dragon Slayer, Cobra.

“Changing things up on me? Good, I was starting to get bored.” Gajeel’s own voice was horse and nearly unrecognizable to his own ears. Days of screaming and little else left his throat sore and possibly bleeding.

Cobra let out a light, humorless chuckle. “Still have a sense of humor. I’m impressed.”

Gajeel watched as Cobra walked over to him. As he got closer he could see how bad Cobra looked. He looked sick, his eyes were sunken in and his skin had an unhealthy pale color. His hair was stringy like he wasn’t taking care of himself. The brand, and it was a brand not a scar, on his neck stood out more now that he had lost so much color. It was an egg shape with a bone shape in the center. Cobra’s clothes were hanging off him, it was clear he had lost weight in an unhealthy way. All in all he looked like shit.

“Wow, you’re one to talk.” Cobra said, acting insulted. “Have you looked at yourself?”

“Been a little tied up.” Gajeel pulled at his restraints to make a point. “Maybe you could help me out.”

Cobra rolled his eye at the man. He was surprised that Gajeel managed to keep a since of humor. It was a struggle for him most days, but without his humor was life really worth living.

“You’re turn to torture me?” Gajeel asked. _Maybe do me the favor of killing me?_

“Not today I’m afraid. I might grant that request soon.” Cobra reached out and forced Gajeel’s mouth open before forcing iron scraps inside.

Gajeel tried spitting them out. Currently starvation was his only way out. Sangre didn’t talk with them anymore, Bones was never going to trust him, starvation was all that he had left. Cobra kept his hand over Gajeel’s mouth, not allowing him to spit the scraps out.

“Eat, you are going to need the strength.” Cobra ordered.

 _I would rather die._ Gajeel thought, growling at Cobra.

“Mistress won’t allow you to die until she gets what she wants. You have one chance tomorrow or you can wait over a year. Do you want to live like this for a year?” Cobra hissed at him. He saw some understanding in Gajeel’s eyes as his mind fill with questions. Cobra relaxed when Gajeel finally started to eat the metal scraps and swallow.

“You can read minds.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Look who’s a genius.” Cobra moved a few steps away from Gajeel. “If you still want that wish once Mistress gets what she wants, I’ll happily fulfill it if you answer my questions first.”

“What does she want?” Gajeel asked. He could feel the iron already returning some of his strength.

“She wants a child, your child.” Cobra said. Gajeel suddenly felt sick as that sank in.

Cobra waited until Gajeel fully absorbed that information before reaching in his pocket and grabbing more metal. This time Gajeel didn’t fight him and just took the offered food.

“Why are you suddenly helping me?” Gajeel asked.

“I told you. I have questions I need answered.” Cobra said. In truth, he hated Bones. She had promised him answered to Cubellios, had promised access to Fairy Tail member. He got none of that. He could see them come in, ruffle through their minds which was mostly confused messes at that point. He never got to see them again. He wasn’t allowed in the cells, wasn’t allowed to touch her precious Gajeel. Now she was starving him, withholding food because he wasn’t proving useful. She was the one handicapping him!

“I’m not turning on my guild.” Gajeel told him.

“I don’t care about your guild.” Cobra told him. He startled as he heard footsteps go past the closed door. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He waited for the person to walk a good distance away before he left.

 Gajeel was left to his thoughts. Bones wanted a baby, his baby. Honestly, at the rate she was going it wasn’t crazy to think about. The idea of pregnancy wasn’t something Gajeel had been thinking about until this moment. What would he do if she had his kid? He couldn’t leave it with her, couldn’t abandon his child. Would he even survive long enough to see a child born? Would she keep him around after she got what she wanted? Why did she want his child? What would she do with them?

Gajeel didn’t get much time to think over these questions before Bones graced him with her presence. He could smell her pheromones before she even entered the room. Once she did he was completely overwhelmed. Gajeel couldn’t honestly remember much of what happened after that. His higher brain function shut off. The pheromones had driven his dragon into a frensy. He wasn’t just at her mercy, he was a willing, egger participant in whatever she wanted. At some point after an unknown amount of time Bones worked him to the point of complete exhaustion.

Gajeel woke to pure agony. The pain was so intense that before he fully came around he was rolling onto his side and vomiting. Each heave sent a wave of pain through his body that only made him sick again. He was dry heaving for several minutes before exhaustion overruled the pain and he was able to rest, laying on his side halfway curled up.

He tried to take a survey of the damage. The shoulder he wasn’t laying on was screaming at him, his arm pulled at a strange angle. The pain was familiar to Gajeel and he knew it was dislocated. His sides felt like they had been torn open, one look at them confirmed that. Throbbing in his neck and shoulders made him feel like he had been used as a chew toy. The right side of his neck burned; he didn’t know what that was from. Outside of those injuries he was just generally sore from overwork.

Gajeel tucked his legs up closer to his chest, only able to get halfway there. He was shivering uncontrollably. He felt like his body had been drenched in ice. The musky scent of stale sex mixed with the coppery scent of old blood, under it he picked up the sickly-sweet scent of infection. _Great, just what I fucking need right now._

It took Gajeel far, far too long for him to understand that he was laying, curled up on his side. He was able to move. He was still tied down, the pull on his wrists and ankles confirmed that but he had some movement. The only problem was he couldn’t gather the strength to move off his injuries, let along break free. How pathetic could he be?

“Gajeel? Are you alright?” Lily’s voice filled the room, it sounded like he was screaming to Gajeel but he knew the Exceed was barely talking above a whisper.

“Gajeel, please talk to me.” Lily said after a few minutes when Gajeel didn’t answer.

“I’m alive.” He said. His voice didn’t even sound like him. It was horse, deep, rough.

“I’m sorry I didn’t understand before. I do now.” Lily said. Gajeel had no idea what he was talking about so he didn’t answer. It hurt to talk and he just wanted to sleep.

Gajeel closed his eyes. He tried to remember what happened after Bones came in the room. He got flashes, her fucking him, but most of the details of were fuzzy. “What did I do?”

“You don’t want to know.” Lily answered. He heard the cage moving as his friend paced the small space.

“I need to know.” Gajeel could start to taste blood as he spoke. He needed to rest.

“It wasn’t you Gajeel. It was your body but not you.” Lily said. Once Bones had entered to room Gajeel had gone out of his mind. The only thing that kept him from pouncing on her had been the restraints. She had used him a handful of time, something Lily was now used to seeing, before she was sure she had complete control over him. Once she was sure of that fact she had added rope to his restraints, allowing him some movement, movement that he used to assist her in fucking him. Gajeel had been like an animal. Lily didn’t understand how Bones was doing it, but she had some sort of control over him.

Gajeel felt a lead weight in his chest. Maybe Lily was right, he didn’t need any more bad memories. There was one thing he had to know, however. “Did I bite her?”

He heard Lily stop his pacing. “Why would you ask that?”

“Lily, did I bite her? Did I … Is she my mate?” Gajeel tried shouting but his voice cracked.

Lily was quiet for a few seconds, making Gajeel start to panic. “No, you didn’t even try.”

It was the first good new Gajeel had heard since they were captured. With that in his mind he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

“Wake up, rust bucket!” Gajeel was grabbed by the shoulder and violently forced onto his back by Cobra. He tried to scream out from the pain but he couldn’t make a sound. It felt like his throat was closed up.

“While Mistress is recovering from all your attention, I have questions for you.” Cobra said. He walked around the table and tighten all of Gajeel’s restraints, again holding Gajeel down so he couldn’t move.

 _Good luck getting any answers out of me._ Gajeel thought. He couldn’t answer even if he wanted too.

“I want to know what you Fairies are doing with Cubellios.” There was venom in his voice.

Gajeel gave him a confused look. _Who the fuck?_

“Cubellios. She’s about this tall, short purple hair, spent most of her life as a snake. Where is she?” Cobra held his hand in the air to show how tall the women he met had been. He only saw her the one time but he would never forget a single detail.

 _Is he talking about K …_ Gajeel stopped his thought before it could fully form.

“I heard that! Who is she!” Cobra screamed into Gajeel’s face. He was leaning over him and putting his weight on his shoulders. White pain blinded Gajeel’s vision and he focused on that, let it fill his mind to keep the name out of his thoughts.

“Tell me her name.” Gajeel didn’t feel the claws that broke his skin but he did feel the burning pain that spread from Cobra’s hold and his poison spread in his veins. Gajeel started to mentally list of the names of every person he could think of. He started with every member of Phantom that he had bothered to learn the name of, then moved to Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Sabertooth, anyone he had ever met. He listed the names over and over, tuning out any questions from Cobra.

Cobra demanded the name over and over but Gajeel refused to tell him. Cobra tried to torture the information out of him but Gajeel was already in so much pain it didn’t even affect him, his body numb. Cobra only had a handful of minutes with Gajeel before he heard people heading for the room. He wasn’t allowed to be around the prisoners without permission from Mistress. When he heard someone heading right for Gajeel’s room he quickly took his leave, fully frustrated with the lack of information he had obtained.

Gajeel relaxed once Cobra left but made sure to keep Kinana’s name far from his mind. He didn’t need someone like him anywhere near that sweet women.

The door opened and closed again only a little over a minute after Cobra left. Gajeel didn’t bother to look and see who it was. His blood was on fire from Cobra’s poison. His skin felt like ice and he was drenched in sweat. He couldn’t catch his breath or move.

Sangre walked into Gajeel’s room and had to drop the bucket and towels he was carrying to cover his noise. The stench was overwhelming, it smelled like bottled death. “Don’t tell me you died. Mistress will be so pissed at me if you died.”

As if on cue Gajeel started seizing. His hands and feet were held in place as the rest of his body violently jerked. Sangre cursed and ran over to Gajeel. He quickly removed the restraints on one side, allowing him to roll Gajeel onto his side and hold his head while he seized.

“Gajeel! What’s happening to him?” Lily shouted as he tried to break out of his cage, throwing himself at the enchanted door.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this.” There was panic in the child’s voice, tears running down his face. “Gajeel, please stop. You have to stop.”

Gajeel didn’t react to his words, the seizure continued. Lily screamed for help while Sangre was uselessly holding Gajeel on the table, begging him to stop.

Two mages walking by heard Lily’s screams and saw the open door. Curiosity must have got the better of them because they peaked their heads in. Lily didn’t recognize either of them. Both wore matching faces of disgust and horror at what they saw.

“What’s going on in here?” One of the two men asked.

“I don’t know.” Sangre said, still panicked as he tried to hold Gajeel still even as he continued to convulse.  “Help, if he dies, Mistress will kill us all.”

Those words kicked them men into action. They ran over to try and figure out what to do. The second man quickly noticed Gajeel’s fever. “We have to cool him off.”

Sangre ran over and grabbed the water bucket he had brought in and threw it over Gajeel. Nothing changed. One of the men that came in turned out to be a snow mage and covered Gajeel in a layer of snow that quickly melted. They fought to cool him as he seized for what felt like an eternity. In reality it was only about ten minutes before Gajeel finally laid limp on the table, not breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry it is taking me so long to get these chapters out. Honestly they are just really hard for me to write. I can only write a scene or two before I need a break and have to write something else. This part will be over soon and I’ll hopefully have an easier time writing and be able to get chapters out faster.


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